visk

Forms

visk f^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wiskō,^[3][2] the word of Old High German wisc (“wisp”) and Middle Low German wisch.^[3][4]

Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon offers two explanations: a link with Latin vīscus (“internal organ”), or an older form with ⟨zg⟩ matching Latin virga (“twig, rod”) and Lithuanian vyzgoti (“to swing about”); either way he derives it from the root Proto-Indo-European *wei-s- (“to turn, twist”).^[3] de Vries prefers the comparison with the Latin and Lithuanian words, and takes that root as an extension of Proto-Indo-European *wei- (“to wind”), the root of viðja “withy”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Möbius cites the compound sefvisk “wisp of rushes”, used to put out a fire, from Gísla saga.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The old dictionaries know it mainly in compounds, hálmvisk “wisp of straw” and sefvisk, and Cleasby and Vigfússon note it as frequent in the modern language.^[7][8] It continues as Icelandic and Norwegian visk and as Swedish and Danish visk “broom”.^[5][3]

The English word whisk, from the late 14th century, probably comes from it, and de Vries also lists loans into the Orkney and Shetland dialects and into Finnish vihko “bundle”.^[9][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. a wisp of hay, straw or rushes.^[1][7]

Word family

• hálmvisk
• sefvisk

Descendants

• Icelandic visk^[3]
• Faroese viskur^[3]
• Norwegian Nynorsk visk^[3]
• Swedish viska^[3]
• Danish visk^[3]
• Middle English wisk (→ English whisk)^[5][9]

Related words

• viðja

References

1. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. visk
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. visk
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. visk
4. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 413
5. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 668
6. ^ Möbius, Theodor (1866), Altnordisches Glossar, Leipzig: Teubner, p. 522
7. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 711
8. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. visk
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com