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 (page 2).
skinn
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skinþą (“skin, hide”). Within Germanic it has close relatives in Middle Low German schin (“a Russian fur money”) and in German dialect words for fruit peel and…
skor
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skurō (“notch, incision”), a noun of the zero grade made to Proto-Germanic *skeraną (“to cut”), the source of skera. Orel gives as cognates Old English scoru…
skór
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skōhaz (“shoe”), a word common to the Germanic languages: Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐍉𐌷𐍃 (skōhs), Old English scōh, Old Frisian skōch, Old Saxon skōh and Old High German scuoh. It…
skrækja
It is an imitative word, inherited from Proto-Germanic *skrēk- (“to shout, make noise”), beside Proto-Germanic *skrak-. Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon compares Nynorsk skræa (“to cough up”) and Latin…
skrapa
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną (“to scrape, scratch”), the source of Old English scrapian and Middle Low German schrapen. It stands in ablaut with the strong verb screpan (“to…
ský
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skiwją (“cloud, cloud cover”), by de Vries's reconstruction from Proto-Norse *skeuja. It has close relatives in Old English scēo (“cloud”) and Old Saxon scio…
skyrta
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ (“skirt, apron”), a noun formed from the adjective *skurtaz (“short”). The same noun is Old English scyrte and Middle Low German schorte (“apron”)…
sléttr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“smooth, level”). The adjective is shared by Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (slaihts), Old Frisian sliucht, Old Saxon slicht and Old High German sleht, while Old…
slyngva
It is a strong verb, inherited from Proto-Germanic *slingwaną (“to swing, sling; to wind”). Torp takes the ⟨v⟩ as a present-stem formant. Its West Germanic cognates mean “to wind, creep”: Old…
snara
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *snarhǭ (“noose, loop”), through a Proto-Norse stage, written ⟨*snarhōn⟩ by de Vries and Köbler. Its cognates are Old English sneare (“noose, snare”), Middle Low…
spik
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *spiką (“bacon, fat”), the source also of Old English spic (“bacon, lard”), Old Saxon spek and Old High German spec. Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon reconstructs…
spretta
The strong verb is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sprintaną (“to spring up”), which Orel and Köbler write *sprentan-. Its ⟨tt⟩ is from ⟨nt⟩ by assimilation, as in stuttr (“short”). The weak verb is…
staðr
1. The word for a place is inherited from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“place”), shared with Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌸𐍃 (staþs), Old English stede, Old Frisian sted, Old Saxon stad and Old High German stat. Kroonen…
stakkr
1. The word for the short coat is inherited from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz (“short coat”), shared with Old Frisian stak (“cloak”). Its origin is disputed. Heidermanns and Köbler derive it from an…
sveinn
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *swainaz (“relative, young man, servant”). The West Germanic cognates mostly mean a herdsman: Old English swān (“herdsman, swineherd, (poetic) man, warrior”), Old…
taka
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *takaną (“to touch, take”), beside an ablaut variant *tēkaną in Gothic 𐍄𐌴𐌺𐌰𐌽 (tekan, “to touch”); Middle Dutch taken (“to take, seize”) and Middle Low German…
traust
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *traustą (“shelter, help, confidence”), a neuter noun made from the adjective *traustaz (“firm, reliable”), which also gave traustr. The noun has cognates in…
trǫll
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *truzlą (“supernatural being, fiend”), with a cognate in Middle High German trolle (“spook, monster, lout”). Its origin is unclear. Sievers derived it from a form…
varr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *waraz (“aware, wary”), which gave Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍂𐍃 (wars, “cautious”), Old English wær, Old Saxon war and Old High German giwar. The Germanic adjective belongs to the…
veikr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz (“weak, pliable”), which Kroonen writes *waika-. Its cognates are Old English wāc (“weak”), Old Saxon wēk (“weak”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”) and Old…
visk
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wiskō, the word of Old High German wisc (“wisp”) and Middle Low German wisch. Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon offers two explanations: a link with Latin vīscus…
vǫndr
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wanduz (“rod, cane”), the source also of Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (wandus, “rod”). It is a u-stem, perhaps derived from Proto-Germanic *windaną (“to wind”), so properly…
þó
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *þauh (“nevertheless, though”), which also gave Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐌷 (þauh), Old English þēah, Old Frisian thāch, Old Saxon thoh and Old High German doh. Ásgeir Blöndal…
þræll
It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *þrahilaz (“runner, servant”), with Old High German drigil (“servant”) as its only certain cognate. It is usually set with Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þragjan, “to run”) and…