Old Norse words from Proto-Germanic
84 Old Norse words with Proto-Germanic in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
af
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ab (“away from, off”), the source also of Gothic 𐌰𐍆 (af), Old English æf and of, Old Saxon af and Old High German aba. Outside Germanic it matches Latin ab…
angr
The word for sorrow is inherited from Proto-Germanic *angazaz (“worry, grief”). Kroonen takes the Germanic noun as a thematised form of an older s-stem, Proto-Indo-European *h₂emǵh-os, and Ásgeir…
báðir
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bai (“both”), the Germanic word seen in Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌹 (bai), genitive 𐌱𐌰𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌴 (baddje), Old English bēgen and Old High German beide. Kroonen explains that the…
beita
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną (“to make bite”), the causative of Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“to bite”), which gave bíta. The causative has the cognates Old English bǣtan (“to bridle…
bekkr
1. The word for the bench is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”), the source of Old English benc, Old Frisian benk, Old Saxon bank and Old High German bank. The /kk/ is assimilated from…
blanda
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *blandaną (“to mix, mingle”), a strong verb shared with Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (blandan), Old English blandan and Old High German blantan. Kroonen explains it as an…
bleikr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”), an o-grade adjective made to the strong verb *blīkaną (“to shine”), Old Norse blíkja. The cognates are Old English blāc (“shining…
blóm
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *blōmô (“flower”), a noun made with an *-m-* suffix to the verb *blōaną (“to bloom”). The same noun is Gothic 𐌱𐌻𐍉𐌼𐌰 (blōma), recorded only in the accusative…
bǫllr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *balluz (“ball”), beside the *n*-stem Proto-Germanic *ballô, the source of Old High German ballo and bal. Kroonen takes the *n*-stem as the original word and…
borð
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *burdą (“board, table”), cognate with Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳 (fōtubaúrd, “footstool”), Old English bord, Old Saxon bord and Old High German bort. De Vries, Hellquist…
broddr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz (“spike”), cognate with Old English brord (“point, blade of grass”) and Old High German brort (“spear, edge”). The Germanic */zd/ became ⟨dd⟩ in Old…
bróðir
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr (“brother”), the word also in Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐌰𐍂 (brōþar), Old English brōþor, Old Frisian brōther, Old Saxon brōthar and Old High German bruodar. It continues…
byggja
1. The word for settling and inhabiting is inherited from Proto-Germanic *būwijaną (“to build, settle”), which Gersum, de Vries and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon give as *ƀewwjan- or *ƀuwwjan-; the ⟨ggv⟩…
deyja
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *dawjaną (“to die”), originally a strong verb with the preterite *dōe, which gave the Norse preterite ⟨dó⟩, and the participle continued by dáinn. Its cognates…
draga
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to draw, pull, carry”), a strong verb of the sixth class. The cognates are Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (dragan), Old English dragan (“to draw, drag”), Old Frisian…
dregg
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *dragjō (“dregs, yeast”). Kroonen describes it as a Germanic and Balto-Slavic stem Proto-Indo-European *dʰragʰ-ieh₂-, matching Lithuanian dragės (“yeast”), Old…
drúpa
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *drūpōjan-, a weak verb formed on the strong verb Proto-Germanic *dreupaną (“to drip”), which gave drjúpa (“to drip”), Old English drēopan, Old Saxon driopan and…
egg
1. The word for the egg is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”), a neuter that continues the Proto-Indo-European word for the egg, Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm. Its relatives are Old English…
flaga
1. The word for a thin layer of earth is inherited: de Vries sets up Germanic stems Proto-Germanic *flahō and *flagō beside *flaka, with the cognate Middle Low German vlage (“layer of earth”). Torp…
flatr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *flataz (“flat”). The adjective is shared with Old Saxon flat (“flat, shallow”) and Old High German flaz (“flat”), and in ablaut with Middle Low German vlōt…
flytja
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną (“to make float”), a causative made on the zero grade of the strong verb fljóta (“to float”), so that it first meant “to let float”, to carry over…
frá
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fram (“from”), with cognates in Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌼 (fram, “forward; from”), Old English fram (“from”), Old Saxon fram and Old High German fram. It is the unstressed…
gaddr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“prickle, goad”), whose other descendants are Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌶𐌳𐍃 (gazds, “sting, goad”), Old Saxon gard (“rod”) and Old High German gart (“prickle”). The Old…
garðr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gardaz (“enclosure, courtyard”), the source of Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 (gards, “house, household”), Old English ġeard (“enclosure, yard”), Old Saxon gard (“field…
gata
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ (“road, alley”), with Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐍅𐍉 (gatwō, “street”), Middle Low German gate (“alley, street”) and Old High German gazza (“lane”), the source of German…
gelda
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *galdijaną (“to castrate”), a verb made to the adjective Proto-Germanic *galdaz (“barren”), whence Old Norse geldr (“barren, giving no milk”). The verb has…
gera
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *garwijaną (“to prepare, make ready”), a factitive verb from the adjective Proto-Germanic *garwaz (“ready”), which survives as Old Norse gǫrr. The cognates mean…
gervi
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *garwį̄ (“clothing, equipment”), a noun made to the adjective Proto-Germanic *garwaz (“ready, prepared”), the source of Old Norse gǫrr (“ready”), from which gera…
geta
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to get, seize”), the verb behind Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌲𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bigitan, “to find”), Old English bigitan (“to obtain”), Old Saxon bigetan (“to seize”) and Old High…
gil
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gilją (“cleft, gully”). The Swedish dialect word gilja (“hollow way”) is the nearest relative. Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon sets it in ablaut with the Nynorsk…
hafr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hafraz (“billy goat”), cognate with Old English hæfer (“he-goat”). De Vries adds an East Franconian “haberling” “yearling he-goat” and the German dialect bird…
happ
Wiktionary gives it as inherited from Proto-Germanic *hampą (“good luck, chance”). De Vries thinks it perhaps from such a form with ⟨mp⟩, comparing the Swedish reflexive verb hampa (“to come…
hitta
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hittijaną (“to come upon, find”), a verb found only in North Germanic; Old English hittan is taken to be a loan from Norse. Its further origin is uncertain, and…
hǫggva
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną (“to hew, strike”), cognate with Old English hēawan (“to hew”), Old Frisian hāwa, Old Saxon hauwan and Old High German houwan; no Gothic form is…
hvar
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hwar (“where”), which also gave Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐍂 (ƕar), Old English hwǣr, Old Frisian hwār, Old Saxon hwar and Old High German wār. Kroonen explains the adverb as made…
kaka
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ (“cake”), which Orel reconstructs as *kakōn. West Germanic has an ablaut variant with a long vowel: Middle Low German kōke and Old High German kuocho, and…
kalla
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), a weak verb of the second class. Its cognates are Old Frisian kella (“to name”), Middle Low German kallen (“to talk, chatter”), Old…
karl
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *karlaz (“man”), which de Vries takes as the base form of the Norse word. The Swedish runic form ⟨karilʀ⟩ points instead to a variant *karilaz, the form…
kasta
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw”), a weak verb found only in North Germanic. De Vries and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon connect it with the nouns kǫs (“heap”) and kǫstr (“pile”)…
klubba
Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon explains it as a stem with a doubled consonant, *kluƀƀ-, which he relates to kólfr “bolt, clapper” and kylfa “club”, and traces it inherited from Proto-Germanic to the…
knífr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *knībaz (“knife”), with the cognates Old Frisian knīf, Middle Low German knīf and Middle Dutch cnijf, and German dialect Kneif (“shoemaker's knife”). Old English…
krókr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *krōkaz (“something bent, a hook”). De Vries compares Old High German kracho (“hook, fork”) and sets it with kraki, kriki and krœkja; Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon…
lágr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“low”), which Kroonen reconstructs as the u-stem *lēgu- because of the ja-stem forms in West Germanic. Its relatives are Old Frisian lēch (“low”), Middle…
lauss
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *lausaz (“loose, free; empty”). The adjective is found across Germanic: Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃 (laus, “empty, devoid”), Old English lēas (“free; void of; false”), Old…
leggr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz (“leg, thigh”), for which de Vries and Köbler reconstruct Proto-Norse *lagja. Its closest relative outside Scandinavia is Lombardic lagi (“thigh”). The…
líkr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“alike, similar”), the older Norse form being glíkr; the ⟨g⟩ was sounded in alliteration in the old poems, while the manuscripts have both forms, the…
lopt
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“roof, air”), with cognates in Gothic 𐌻𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (luftus, “air”), Old English lyft (“air, sky”), Old Saxon luft (“air”) and Old High German luft (“air”)…
lypta
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise into the air, lift”), a verb made to Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“air”), the source of lopt. Its West Germanic counterparts are Middle Low…
mjúkr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *meukaz (“soft”). The adjective is recorded only in North Germanic; an ablaut form *mūka- is in Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌼𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹 (mūkamōdei, “gentleness”) and Dutch muik…
nei
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *nai (“never, not”). De Vries traces it to *ni-aiw, the negative ne with the adverb “ever”; Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon likewise thinks it probably the same…
plógr
In Wiktionary's and Kroonen's account it is inherited from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz (“plough”), a noun shared with Old English plōh, Old Frisian plōch, Middle Dutch ploech and Old High German pfluog…
raptr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *raftraz (“rafter”), with cognates in Old English ræfter (“rafter, beam”) and Middle Low German rafter (“small beam, lath”). De Vries notes that the spelling with…
rás
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *rēsō (“a running, course”), a feminine ⟨ō⟩-stem. Its cognates are Old English rǣs (“running, attack”) and Middle Low German rās (“strong current”). Outside…
rót
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“root”), a root noun, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”). The same root gives Latin rādīx (“root”) and Ancient Greek ῥάδιξ (rhádix, “branch”). A…
rotinn
It is in origin the past participle of a strong verb that is not recorded, *rjóta (“to decay, fall apart”), which is inherited from Proto-Germanic *reutaną (“to rot”). Torp sets up the same Germanic…
ryðja
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *rudjaną (“to clear”), the source also of Old English ryddan (“to strip, rob”). Orel derives it from Proto-Germanic *reudaną, the verb behind rjóða “to clear”; de…
saga
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sagǭ (“what is said, account”), a noun formed beside the verb *sagjaną (“to say”), the source of segja. Its cognates are Old English sagu (“statement, story”)…
samr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *samaz (“same”), the source also of Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌰 (sama), Old High German samo and Old Saxon sama; Old English has only the adverbial phrase swā same (“in the same…
skalli
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skallô (“skull”). Köbler lists Old Norse skoltr beside it under the same etymon. Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon, Hellquist and de Vries put it with skel (“shell”)…
skíð
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skīdą (“piece of wood, billet”), a word for a piece split off a log. Its cognates are Old English scīd, Old Frisian skīd and Old High German scīt (“log”), the…