fár

fár¹ few

Forms

fár (feminine fá, neuter fátt; comparative færi, superlative fæstr)^[3]

Etymology

The word for “few” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”),^[4][5] the source also of Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍃 (faus), Old English fēa, Old Saxon fā and Old High German fō.^[5] Kroonen derives it from a zero-grade form Proto-Indo-European *ph₂u-o-, and compares Ancient Greek παῦρος (paûros, “small, few”), Latin parvus (“small”) and paucus (“few”).^[5]

Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon thinks the sense “cold, unfriendly” may come from, or be mixed with, a different word, like Old English fāh (“hostile”), but does not insist on it.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's first dated record is in a homily fragment of 1150, with the comparative: at fę́re se englar sender í heim en fleire loue goþ á himnom “that fewer angels are sent into the world, and more praise God in heaven”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides “few” the neuter fátt meant “little, not much”, and with numbers “short of”, as in vetri fátt í fjóra tigu “a year short of forty”.^[3][2] The singular often stood for the plural in proverbs, as in fár er fagr ef grætr “few are fair when they weep”.^[7] Of persons it came to mean “taciturn, cold”, and fátt kom á með þeim meant that they were on bad terms.^[8][6]

It continues as Icelandic fár, Swedish få and Danish få.^[6][1]

Timeline

• 1150 – the comparative fę́re “fewer” in a homily fragment.^[2]
• 1175 – fat “little” in the Elucidarius.^[2]
• 1200–1225 – fáir, fá, fǽra in AM 677 4to.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. few.^[2][3]
2. (neuter fátt) little, not much.^[2][3]
3. less, short of a number.^[2][8]
4. taciturn, cold, unfriendly.^[8][6]

Word family

• fæð
• fækka
• fátœkr
• allfár

Descendants

• Icelandic fár^[4]
• Faroese fáur^[4]
• Norwegian Nynorsk få^[4]
• Swedish få^[4]
• Danish få^[4]
• Norwegian Bokmål få^[4]

fár² harm, malice

Forms

fár n (genitive fárs) (strong a-stem)^[4]

Etymology

The word for “harm, malice” is inherited from Proto-Norse *ᚠᚨᚱᚨ (*fāra), which is found only in a compound,^[4] from Proto-Germanic *fērą.^[10] It matches Old English fǣr (“danger, peril”), Old Saxon fār (“ambush”) and Old High German fāra (“ambush, danger”).^[10][6]

Orel compares Ancient Greek πεῖρα (peîra, “attempt”), and de Vries and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon add Latin perīculum (“trial, danger”) and experior (“to try”); the first sense would then be “a hostile attempt, pursuit”, which gave “danger” and “fear”.^[10][1][6] De Vries suggests that the word may go further back to the root of fara.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Proto-Norse compound farauisa “the one who knows of danger” is on the Danish inscription DR IK98, dated by Rundata to 400–650.^[11][1] In Old Norse proper ONP's first dated record is in Grágás of 1250, of a man who withholds something to another's harm: hvart hann hellde til fárs honom “whether he held it back to his harm”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

ONP orders the senses “hurt, damage, danger”, “malice, hatred, fury”, “fraud” and “fraudulent goods”.^[2] The legal sense “fraud in trade” is in a Norwegian law, which calls it fár when a man buys sand or dung where he thought he was buying flour or butter.^[12][13] Cleasby and Vigfússon note that the old word did not mean “fear” or “danger” as in German, and that Danish fare and Swedish fara are borrowed from German.^[7] In Icelandic it came to mean a plague of animals and a dangerous illness.^[7][6]

Timeline

• 400–650 – Proto-Norse farauisa on the Danish inscription DR IK98.^[11]
• 1250 – til fárs “to (his) harm” in Grágás.^[2]
• 1275 – fár “fraud” in a Norwegian law.^[2]
• 1325 – the sense “malice, fury” in the Prose Edda.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. harm, damage, danger.^[2][12]
2. evil intent, malice, fury.^[2][14]
3. (law) fraud in trade, and fraudulent goods.^[2][15]
4. a dangerous illness.^[14][7]

Word family

• fársmaðr
• fárskona
• fársótt
• fárviðri

Descendants

• Icelandic fár^[4]
• Faroese fár^[4]