*maistar

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *maistar "master" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin magister (“leader, teacher, master”) in a Vulgar Latin form.^[1][2][3] EWA derives Old High German meistar from an early Romance form in which the middle -g- had probably already been lost, such as *ma(i̯)estro or *ma(i̯)istru, the form continued in Old French maistre and Italian maestro.^[2]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem in Old High German and Old Saxon,^[2][4] and a strong masculine in Old English.^[5]

Evidence

The word is attested as Old English mǣgester, also māgister,^[5] Old Frisian māster, also mēster and maister,^[6] Old Saxon mēster in the Heliand^[3] and Old High German meistar, in many glosses, in Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^[2] Old High German also has a later or learned borrowing of the same Latin word, magister, recorded only once, in the genitive singular ⟨magistres⟩.^[7][2] The Old Norse word and the other North Germanic forms are borrowings from Middle Low German.^[2]

Competing analyses

The sources differ on the Latin form that was borrowed.^[1][3][2] Wiktionary gives Vulgar Latin *maester;^[1] Berr derives Old Saxon mēster from a Vulgar Latin form whose accent had shifted from the second to the first syllable;^[3] EWA from an early Romance form without the middle -g-.^[2] EWA takes Old English mǣgester as borrowed directly from Latin magister, and allows that English master continues it, since early Middle English already has forms such as maistre without the -g-, beside a separate borrowing of Old French maistre.^[2]

Meanings

1. master^[1][3]

Old English and Old Saxon also used the word for "teacher",^[5][3] and Old High German used the word for many kinds of leader and expert: "artist", "teacher of the church", "craftsman", "scribe", "rabbi", "soothsayer", "lord", "ruler", "tamer of animals".^[2] Old Frisian also used it for "scholar", "master builder", "master of an order" and "physician".^[6]

Derivatives

• *maistarōn "to rule, to be a master", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[1] Old Frisian has māsteria (“to rule over, to treat as a physician”)^[8] and Old High German meistarōn (“to lead, to govern, to rule”).^[9]

Reflexes

• Old English: mǣgester (“master, teacher”)^[5]
• Old Frisian: māster (“master, scholar, teacher, physician”)^[6]
• Old Saxon: mēster (“teacher, master”)^[3]
• Old High German: meistar (“master, teacher, craftsman, lord”)^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *maistar
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. meistar
3. ^ a b c d e f g Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 284
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mêster
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mǣgester
6. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. māster
7. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. magister
8. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. māsteria
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. meistarōn