𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃

Forms

𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils), an adjective of the a-declension.^[1][2] The commonest forms in the Wulfila project's count are 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌹 (mikilai, 12 times), 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils, 11), 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌰 (mikila, 11), 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻 (mikil, 7) and 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 (mikilamma, 6).^[3] The comparative 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌶𐌰 (maiza, "greater") and the superlative 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (maists, "greatest") are formed on another stem,^[4][5] which also gives Old Norse meiri, Old English māra and Old High German mēro.^[6] Their adverbs are 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌶𐍉 (maizo, "more") and 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄 (maist, "at most").^[7][5] The adverb of the positive is 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌱𐌰 (mikilaba), recorded once.^[8][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *mekila- (“large, great”),^[9][10] from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- (“great”), with an l-suffix.^[9][11] Its Germanic cognates are Old Norse mikill, Old English micel, Old Saxon mikil and Old High German mihhil.^[10] Kroonen compares Hittite mēkk- (“much, many”), Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “great”), Armenian and Albanian words for "great", and Latin magnus.^[10] He notes that Germanic alone added an l-suffix to the root, perhaps by analogy with Proto-Germanic *lītila- (“small”) or the other way round, and that the Greek feminine μεγάλη (megálē) has a parallel suffix.^[10] Feist instead groups the Latin word with the Sanskrit and Avestan words for "great", whose root ended in an aspirate.^[8]

Attestation

Köbler counts 54 records of the positive, in all four Gospels, several Epistles and the Skeireins.^[11] The Wulfila project's 77 tokens include the comparative and superlative forms; they are in manuscripts CA (56), A, B, E and Lat5750.^[3] The first is Matthew 5:19 in CA.^[3][12] In PROIEL's Gospels and Epistles the word renders Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas) 53 times and πολύς (polús) six times.^[12] At Matthew 5:19 the one who keeps and teaches the commandments mikils haitada in þiudangardjai himine, "will be called great in the kingdom of heaven".^[13]

Meanings

1. great, large, big; for μέγας.^[1][11][9]
2. much, many; strong; for πολύς.^[11][2]

Word family

• 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌱𐌰 (mikilaba)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌴𐌹 (mikilei, “greatness”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌿𐌸𐍃 (mikildūþs, “greatness”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍃 (mikilþūhts)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (mikiljan, “to magnify, praise”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌽𐌰𐌽 (mikilnan, “to be magnified”)

Related words

• 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍃 (mais, “more”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. mikils
2. ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 288
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. maiza
5. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. maists
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 349
7. ^ 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. maiza
8. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. mikils
9. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃
10. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 361
11. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mikils
12. ^ a b 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
13. ^ 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 5:19