*dor

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *dor "large door, gate" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and separately *dur "door".^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *durą (“gate, single door”),^[1][3] which Kroonen and Köbler cite as *dura- and Orel as *đuran.^[3][4][5] Kroonen takes it for the original neuter singular, whose dual "double door" may have been the base of the i-stem plural *durī- "door".^[3] Orel calls it a morphological variant of the root noun *đurz.^[5]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[6][7][8] In the Heliand the nominative plural is doru in manuscript M and duru in C, and the dative plural durun in M and doron in C.^[7]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English dor, Old Saxon dor and Old High German tor;^[3][5] Orel glosses the Old English word "large door" and the others "gate",^[5] and Kroonen also lists Old Saxon dur.^[3] Old Saxon has it in the Heliand and the Genesis,^[7] and Old High German in glosses and the Isidor translation from the end of the 8th century.^[8] Outside West Germanic it is matched by Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍂 (daur).^[3][9] Wiktionary lists no Old Frisian or Old Dutch descendant.^[1]

The word must be kept apart from the word for "door" found in Old English duru, Old Saxon duru, Old Frisian dure and Old High German turi, which Ringe and Taylor trace to Proto-Germanic *dur-.^[10] Kroonen derives Old English duru, Old Frisian dore and Old High German tura from a feminine *durō-.^[3]

Meanings

1. large door, gate^[1]

Old English, Old Saxon and Old High German used the word for both "gate" and "door".^[11][7][8]

Reflexes

• Old English: dor (“gate, door”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: dor (“gate, door”)^[7]
• Old High German: tor (“gate, door”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *dor
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *dur
3. ^ a b c d e f g Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 110
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *dura-
5. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 79
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dor
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dor
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tor
9. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *durą
10. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 28
11. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. dor