werra

Forms

werra f (genitive werrae); first declension^[1] Medieval spellings include guerra, guera, gwerra, wera and verra.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *werʀu (“riot, quarrel”).^[1] Köbler traces it to Proto-Germanic *werza- (“war, unrest, confusion”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *wers-, a link he marks as uncertain.^[4][5] Etymonline likewise derives the Frankish word from Proto-Germanic, the source also of Old High German werran, and reports a connection with that root, glossed “to confuse, mix up”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in a capitulary of 858,^[4][1] and in early medieval texts it meant both war and strife or insurrection.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Niermeyer orders its senses from violent strife, quarrel and sedition, through private warfare and vengeance between feudal lords, to war between lands, peoples and kings and war in general; it was also used of a military expedition of a town's burghers and of a judicial combat.^[3] The MLW adds legal disputes and times of war, and records it as a surname.^[2] The phrase guerra recrēdūta meant a ceasefire.^[3][2]

The word continues in Italian guerra, which Maltese borrowed as gwerra.^[1]

Timeline

• 858 – First recorded, in a capitulary.^[4][1]
• 1086–1090 – Benzo writes that there will be no more war, but everlasting peace (amplius non erit werra, sed pacis perhennitas).^[2][4]
• 1156 – An Italian charter names a count Guido Guerra, the word used as a surname.^[2]
• 1251 – Under this year the annals of Piacenza record that war broke out between the knights and the people (incepta est guera inter milites et populum).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Violent strife, quarrel; insurrection, sedition.^[3][1]
2. Private warfare, a feud or vengeance, often between feudal lords.^[3][2]
3. War between countries, peoples, princes or kings; war in general.^[3][2]
4. A military expedition organized by the burghers of a town.^[3]
5. A judicial combat.^[3]
6. A legal dispute.^[2]
7. guerra recrēdūta: a ceasefire, truce.^[3][2]

Related words

• English war

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com