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𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽

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Etymology and origin of the Gothic word 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽1 fight

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
340–380 Wulfila's Bible translation
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *wiganą
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *weyk-

Forms

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (weihan), a strong verb of the first class.[1][2][3] Only two forms are recorded: the infinitive 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (weihan) and the first person singular preterite 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷 (waih).[3][4]

Etymology

The word for "fight" is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wiganą (“to fight”),[5][6] a strong verb that is also Old Norse vega in Old Norse, Old English wīgan in Old English and Old High German wīgan in Old High German.[6][7][8] Lehmann takes the Gothic h as the regular consonant of the old paradigm and the g of the Old English and Old High German infinitives as carried over from other forms.[4] Kroonen sees the original zero-grade present in the participle 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍉 (andwaihandō, “warring”) and in the Old Norse verb, replaced elsewhere by full-grade forms.[6] The verb goes back to the root Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to exert force, fight”), also found in Latin vincō (“I conquer”), with a nasal infix, Old Irish fichid (“fights”) in Old Irish and Lithuanian veikti (“to carry out”) in Lithuanian.[4][6][3]

Attestation

Köbler counts two records: waih at 1 Corinthians 15:32 in manuscript A, and weihan at 2 Timothy 2:14 in B.[3] PROIEL aligns them with Ancient Greek θηριομαχέω (thēriomakhéō, “to fight with beasts”) and Ancient Greek λογομαχέω (logomakhéō, “to dispute about words”).[9] The Wulfila project lists 110 tokens under this lemma, but marks 109 of them ambiguous: they are spellings such as waiht (54 times) and weiham (20) that it does not assign to one word, and only one token is unambiguous.[10] 1 Corinthians 15:32 has 𐌳𐌿 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐌶𐌰𐌼 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷 (du diuzam waih), "I fought with beasts".[3][4]

Meanings

  1. To fight, battle; in du diuzam weihan for θηριομαχεῖν, "to fight with wild beasts".[3][1]
  2. In waurdam weihan, to dispute about words, for λογομαχεῖν.[3][4]

Word family

  • 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (andweihan, “to fight against”)

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽2 consecrate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
340–380 Wulfila's Bible translation
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *wīhaz
Etymology tree of 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽2
inherited borrowed derived
Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (weihs)
Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (weihan)

Forms

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (weihan, romanized weihān by Wiktionary), a weak verb of the third class.[1][11][5] The recorded forms are 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰 (weiha, "I consecrate"), 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌹 (weihai) and the preterite 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌰 (weihaida).[12]

Etymology

The verb for "consecrate" is formed from Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (weihs, “holy”).[13][14][15] Kroonen and LÄGLOS derive the class-3 verb from a Proto-Germanic stem in ē, different from the weak verbs of the first class behind Old Norse vígja in Old Norse, Old Frisian wīa in Old Frisian, Old Saxon wīhian in Old Saxon and Old High German wīhen in Old High German, which Wiktionary's Proto-Germanic *wīhijaną represents.[16][17][5] Kroonen derives the adjective from Proto-Indo-European *uéik-o-, with Latin victima (“sacrificial animal”).[16] Lehmann gives the root the sense "separate", adapted in Latin and Germanic for what is sacred, set apart from humans, but reports doubts about the Indo-Iranian evidence and Kammenhuber's attempt to unite it with the root of "fight" (homograph 1) through a Hittite verb.[18] Köbler likewise sets up a root "to set apart, consecrate".[12]

Attestation

Köbler counts three records: weihai at John 17:17 and weiha at John 17:19 in manuscript CA, and weihaida at 1 Corinthians 7:14 in A.[12] All three render Ancient Greek ἁγιάζω (hagiázō) in PROIEL.[9] The Wulfila project lists 49 tokens, 46 of them marked ambiguous, among them forms such as weiham (20) that are not assigned to one word.[10] John 17:17 reads weihai ins in sunjai, "consecrate them in the truth".[19]

Meanings

  1. To hallow, consecrate, make holy; for ἁγιάζειν.[12][1][15]

Word family

  • 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (gaweihan, “to consecrate”)
  • 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (weihnan, “to be hallowed”)
  • 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌹𐌸𐌰 (weihiþa, “holiness”)
  • 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌾𐍉 (waihjō, “fight”) (homograph 1)
  • 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍉 (andwaihandō, “warring”) (homograph 1)

Usage notes

Streitberg, Köbler and Lehmann number the verb "fight" 1 and the verb "consecrate" 2.[1][3][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. weihan
  2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 302
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. weihan 1
  4. ^ 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. weihan 1
  5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽
  6. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 586
  7. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 168
  8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 465
  9. ^ 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
  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. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. weihan
  12. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. weihan 2
  13. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 169
  14. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1868), A Moeso-Gothic Glossary, with an Introduction, an Outline of Moeso-Gothic Grammar, and a List of Anglo-Saxon and Old and Modern English Words Etymologically Connected with Moeso-Gothic, London: Asher, p. 268
  15. ^ 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. 541
  16. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 585
  17. ^ Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 397
  18. ^ 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. weihs 1
  19. ^ 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. Jn 17:17

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/got/%F0%90%8D%85%F0%90%8C%B4%F0%90%8C%B9%F0%90%8C%B7%F0%90%8C%B0%F0%90%8C%BD. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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