𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (mitan), a strong verb of the fifth class.^[1][2][3] Regan gives the principal parts 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽, 𐌼𐌰𐍄, 𐌼𐌴𐍄𐌿𐌼, 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽𐍃 (mitan, mat, metum, mitans);^[3] Miller marks the preterite singular and the past participle with an asterisk.^[4] Köbler records four forms: the third person singular present 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌳 (mitid) and the passive 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌳𐌰 (mitada) at Luke 6:38, mitada again at Mark 4:24, and the nominative plural masculine present participle 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐍃 (mitandans) at 2 Corinthians 10:12; the infinitive is not among them.^[2][5] The Wulfila project counts eight tokens, but four of them, the form 𐌼𐌰𐍄 (mat), are marked ambiguous.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *metaną (“to measure”),^[7][8][9] as are Old Norse meta (“to evaluate”), Old English metan, Old Frisian meta, Old Saxon metan and Old High German mezzan (“to measure, compare”).^[8][5] It continues Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure”).^[7][5][2] Kroonen notes that the root means both "to measure" and "to estimate" across Indo-European, and, from the deponents Ancient Greek μήδομαι (mḗdomai), Latin medeor and Old Irish midithir, takes the second sense to have arisen in reflexive use, "to measure for oneself".^[8] Lehmann and Feist add μέδομαι (médomai, “to take care of”), modus (“measure”) and modius (“bushel”).^[5][10] Feist sees a lengthened grade of the root in the preterite plural and in 𐌿𐍃𐌼𐌴𐍄 (usmēt).^[10]

Attestation

Köbler's four records are in Luke and Mark, in manuscript CA, and in 2 Corinthians, in manuscript B.^[2] The Wulfila project gives Luke 6:38 as the first in canonical order.^[6] PROIEL aligns four tokens with Ancient Greek μετρέω (metréō) and one with Ancient Greek ἀντιμετρέω (antimetréō).^[11] At Luke 6:38: þizai auk samon mitadjon þizaiei mitid mitada izwis, "for with the same measure with which you measure, it will be measured to you".^[12]

Meanings

1. to measure, gauge, take the measure of, for Ancient Greek μετρέω (metréō)^[3][2][11]

Word family

• 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (gamitan, “to mete out”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (usmitan, “to conduct oneself”)

Related words

• 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌳𐌾𐍉 (mitadjō, “measure”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌸𐍃 (mitaþs, “measure”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌽 (mitōn, “to consider”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌽𐍃 (mitōns, “thought”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌽𐍃 (gamitōns, “thought”)
• 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌽 (ufarmitōn, “to forget”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌼𐌴𐍄 (usmēt, “conduct”)

References

1. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. mitan
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mitan*
3. ^ a b c Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 111
4. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d 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. *mitan
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽
8. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 367
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *metanan
10. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. mitan
11. ^ 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
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 6:38