Message: "Re: Correct etymology of Geneviève/Genovefa"

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Re: Correct etymology of Geneviève/Genovefa

by elbowin

7/29/2020, 3:42 AM

in reply to a message by Somebody random

Etymologically, the German word Weib "woman", cognate to English wife, is very difficult to treat and explain, because it lacks cognates outside the Germanic languages. It is probably related to the Old High German verb weibon "to move to and fro", that is preserved in the military rank (German) Feldwebel or (Swiss) Weibel "sarge, staff sergeant".

When you can read German, here are some relevant sections from Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch:

http://www.woerterbuchnetz.de/cgi-bin/WBNetz/wbgui_py?sigle=DWB&lemid=GW12159
http://www.woerterbuchnetz.de/cgi-bin/WBNetz/wbgui_py?sigle=DWB&mode=Vernetzung&hitlist=&patternlist=&lemid=GW12169#XGW12169

The German verb weben "to weave" is not related and has Indogermanic connections to Classical Greek and Sanskrit, but shows some contamination from weibon.

http://www.woerterbuchnetz.de/cgi-bin/WBNetz/wbgui_py?sigle=DWB&lemid=GW10107

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- Dorchadas (Lucille)

7/30/2020, 11:42 AM

QuoteIt is probably related to the Old High German verb weibon "to move to and fro", that is preserved in the military rank (German) Feldwebel or (Swiss) Weibel "sarge, staff sergeant".

Upon reading this, I would like to add that in Dutch, we have the cognate weifelen (spelled as weyfelen in older times) meaning "to hesitate". The meaning is technically figurative, as it refers to how a person goes back and forth ("to and fro") between conflicting feelings. The Dutch verb wuiven meaning "to wave" is also related.

• weifelen:
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/weifelen (in English)
- http://www.etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/weifelen (in Dutch)

• wuiven:
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wuiven (in English)
- http://etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/wuiven (in Dutch)

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