rakr

Forms

rakr adj (feminine rǫk, neuter rakt)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *rakaz (“straight”),^[3][2] an o-grade adjective of the root of rekja, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, direct”).^[3][4] Its nearest relative is Middle Low German rak (“straight, in order”), also found in East Frisian;^[4][5] another grade appears in Old English recen (“ready, quick”) and reken (“ready, orderly”).^[4][6] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon compares Latin regō (“to rule”), rēx (“king”) and Ancient Greek ὀρέγω (orégō, “to stretch out”).^[5] Orel derives it from the strong verb Proto-Germanic *rekaną.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vries knows the word only from the Postola sögur.^[4] ONP dates its one record to 1325, in the phrase í rǫku: tok iohannes viþ þeim oc bꜹ́þ þeim .vii. daga fꜹsto í rꜹko “John received them and bade them fast seven days on end”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Fritzner glosses the adjective “straight, direct” and takes í rǫku as “in an unbroken row”.^[9] The same element is the first part of rakleið and rakleiðis “straight, directly”.^[9][5] It continues as Icelandic rakur “straight” and in Norwegian Nynorsk rak and Swedish rak.^[5][4]

Timeline

• 1325 – í rǫku “on end, without a break” in a saga of the apostle John.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. straight, direct.^[9][4][2]
2. in the phrase í rǫku: in a row, continuously.^[8][1]

Word family

• rakleiðis
• rakleið

Descendants

• Icelandic rakur^[5]
• Norwegian Nynorsk rak^[4]
• Swedish rak^[4]

Related words

• rekja

Usage notes

Modern Icelandic rakur “damp, moist”, which Cleasby and Vigfússon put under the same head, is a separate word recorded from the 17th century.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 482
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. rakr
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 403
4. ^ a b c d e f g h de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 432
5. ^ a b c d e f Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. rakur
6. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 333
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 296
8. ^ a b c Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. rakr
9. ^ a b c d Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. rakr