𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (driusan), a strong verb of the second class.^[1][2] The preterite is 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌿𐍃 (draus), plural 𐌳𐍂𐌿𐍃𐌿𐌽 (drusun); the past participle is not attested.^[3][4] The Wulfila project records 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌿𐍃 (draus) seven times, 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (driusands) four times, 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌹𐌸 (driusiþ) three times, 𐌳𐍂𐌿𐍃𐌿𐌽 (drusun) twice, and 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (driusandan), 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍉 (driusandeino) and 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (driusandeins) once each.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *dreusaną (“to fall”),^[5][6] a strong verb also continued in Old English drēosan (“to rush, fall, perish”) and Old Saxon driosan.^[6][7] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *dʰréuHs-e-.^[6] Lehmann finds no certain cognate outside Germanic and suggests, after Pokorny, a root Proto-Indo-European *dhrew- (“to break apart, crumble”), extended with -s-.^[3] Orel, after Johansson, considers it the same word as Ancient Greek θραύω (thraúō, “to break, grind”), and compares Proto-Slavic *drusati (“to shake”).^[7] Uhlenbeck preferred Latvian druska (“crumb”), Welsh dryll and Latin frūstum (“piece”).^[7][8] Holthausen calls its origin unknown.^[9]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 19 tokens, in John, Luke, Mark, Romans and 1 Corinthians.^[4] Köbler counts 20.^[10] Seventeen are in manuscript CA and two in A.^[4] The first in canonical order is John 11:32.^[4] PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek πίπτω (píptō, “to fall”) twelve times, προσπίπτω (prospíptō, “to fall down before”) five times and ἐπιπίπτω (epipíptō, “to fall upon”) twice.^[11] Luke 5:8 reads gaumjands þan Seimon Paitrus draus du kniwam Iesuis, "when Simon Peter saw it, he fell at the knees of Jesus".^[12]

Meanings

1. to fall, fall down, for πίπτω^[1][10][5]
2. With 𐌳𐌿 (du) or 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰 (faura), to fall down before someone, for προσπίπτω^[13][10]
3. With 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana), to fall upon, to press against or crowd upon someone, for ἐπιπίπτω^[14][13][10]

Word family

• 𐌰𐍄𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (atdriusan, “to fall into”)
• 𐌳𐌹𐍃𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (disdriusan, “to fall upon”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (gadriusan, “to fall”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (usdriusan, “to fall out”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gadrausjan, “to throw down”)
• 𐌰𐍆𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (afdrausjan, “to throw down”)
• 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍉 (driusō, “slope, cliff”)
• 𐌳𐍂𐌿𐍃 (drus, “fall”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌳𐍂𐌿𐍃𐍄𐍃 (usdrusts, “rough road”)

Usage notes

Schulze notes that Gothic renders πίπτειν only with driusan, where Old High German uses only fallan.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. driusan
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 274
3. ^ a b 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. driusan
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 102
7. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 76
8. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 37
9. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 23
10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. driusan*
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. Lk 5:8
13. ^ a b Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 75
14. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. driusan
15. ^ Schulze, Ernst (1867), Gothisches Wörterbuch nebst Flexionslehre, Züllichau: Darnmann, p. 42