𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃

Forms

𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts), a masculine noun of the i-stem class.^[1][2][3] Köbler records the nominative singular 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts) once, the accusative singular 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄 (gast) twice, the dative singular 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌼 (gastim) once, the nominative plural 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹𐍃 (gasteis) twice and the accusative plural 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gastins) once.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gastiz (“guest, stranger”),^[5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *gʰostis (“stranger, guest”).^[4][6][7] The cognates are Old Norse gestr, Old English giest, Old Frisian jest, Old Saxon gast and Old High German gast, all "guest".^[6] Lehmann cites it in Proto-Norse personal names on the Berga and Gallehus inscriptions.^[7] Outside Germanic it matches Latin hostis, "stranger" and later "enemy", and the Slavic word for "guest".^[6][8][7] Feist sets up a basic meaning "stranger", which split into "enemy" and "guest".^[8] Lehmann ties the words to a shared sphere of hospitality, following Benveniste.^[7] Feist and Lehmann both doubt a link with Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “guest, stranger”).^[8][7] The further analysis is uncertain: Casaretto rejects the common derivation as a verbal noun "the one who eats" because of the masculine gender, the concrete meaning and the o-grade, and finds Eichner's analysis "taking part in the meal" more plausible.^[9]

Attestation

Köbler counts seven records, the Wulfila project ten tokens (counting both manuscripts where two have the verse), in Matthew, Ephesians and 1 Timothy.^[4][10] The Matthew records are in manuscript C, except Matthew 27:7 in CA; the Epistle records are in A and B.^[4] The first in canonical order is gast at Matthew 25:38.^[10] PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos) six times out of seven.^[11] Matthew 25:43 reads gasts was jan-ni galaþodeduþ mik, "I was a stranger and you did not take me in".^[12]

Meanings

1. a stranger, foreigner, for ξένος.^[1][2][4]
2. gastins andniman, to receive strangers, show hospitality, for ξενοδοχεῖν.^[4]

Word family

• 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌲𐍉𐌸𐍃 (gastigōþs, “hospitable”)

Usage notes

In the Gothic Bible the word means "stranger".^[1][2] Regan notes that the other Germanic languages have the sense "guest".^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. gasts
2. ^ a b c d Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 71
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 279
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gasts
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃
6. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
7. ^ a b c d e Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. gasts
8. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. gasts
9. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
11. ^ Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
12. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. Mt 25:43