𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐍃

Forms

𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐍃 (haifsts), a feminine noun of the i-stem declension, not attested in the nominative singular.^[1][2][3] The Wulfila project records the plural 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹𐍃 (haifsteis) six times, the accusative singular 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄 (haifst) six times, the dative singular 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹 (haifstai) three times and the genitive singular 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍃 (haifstais) once.^[4][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *haifstiz (“conflict, struggle”),^[5][6] whose other descendants are Old Norse heifst (“hatred, feud”) (beside heift), Old English hǣst (“violence, fury”), Old Frisian hāst (“anger; haste”) and Middle Low German heist (“vehemence”).^[6][7][8] The adjective Old High German heisti (“violent”) has the same root.^[9][7] Feist finds no certain etymology.^[8] Orel relates Lithuanian kaĩpti (“to be dizzy, to ail”).^[7] Köbler, with a query, Proto-Indo-European *k̑ēibʰ- (“quick, violent”).^[7][3]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 16 tokens, six of them ambiguous, in Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Timothy and the Skeireins.^[4] Köbler counts 12.^[3] Six are in manuscript A, nine in B and one in Lat5750.^[4] The first in canonical order is Romans 13:13.^[4] PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek ἔρις (éris, “strife”) and ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”) three times each and with ἐριθεία (eritheía, “rivalry”) twice.^[10][3] Romans 13:13 reads ni haifstai jah aljana, "not in strife and envy".^[11]

Meanings

1. strife, quarrel, for ἔρις and ἐριθεία^[1][8][3]
2. a contest, striving in competition, for ἀγών^[12][3]

Word family

• 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (haifstjan, “to strive, fight”)

Borrowings into other languages

• Italian: astio (“grudge”), probably^[5][13]

Usage notes

Casaretto analyses the stem as *haif-s-ti-: the root, in the a-grade throughout, points to a strong verb of the seventh class, *haifa- or *haiba-.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. haifsts
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 280
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. haifsts*
4. ^ a b c d 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. 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐍃
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 200
7. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 151
8. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. haifsts
9. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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. Rom 13:13
12. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 76
13. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1970), Romania Germanica: Sprach- und Siedlungsgeschichte der Germanen auf dem Boden des alten Römerreichs, vol. 1: Zu den ältesten Berührungen zwischen Römern und Germanen. Die Franken, 2nd ed., Berlin: de Gruyter, p. vol. 3, p. 53