Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Pokorny Etymon: ers- : orsos   'tail; arse, rump, backside'

Semantic Field(s): Tail

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
Celtic  
Old Irish: asan n ass: donkey W7
err n arse, tail W7
Irish: asal n ass: donkey CDC
Gaelic: asal n ass: donkey CDC
Manx: assyl n ass: donkey CDC
Breton: azen n ass: donkey CDC
Cornish: asen n ass: donkey CDC
Welsh: asyn n ass: donkey CDC
English  
Old English: ærs, ears n.masc arse AHD/ASD
assa, asse n.masc ass: donkey ASD/W7
assen n.fem ass: donkey CDC
Northumbrian: asal, as(s)ald n ass: donkey CDC
Middle English: ars, ers n arse CDC
ass, as(se) n ass: donkey CDC/W7
squirel n squirrel W7
English: anthurium n (genus of) tropical evergreen ornamental plant AHD
anuran n salientian: tailless amphibian AHD/W7
arse n rump, buttocks, backside LRC
ass n arse; donkey AHD/W7
cynosure n northern constellation Ursa Minor AHD/W7
dasyure n Australian/Tasmanian arboreal carnivorous marsupial mammal AHD/W7
dodo n extinct heavy flightless bird AHD/W7
eremurus n foxtail lily AHD/W7
ophiuroid n starfish: sand-star, brittle star AHD
oxyuriasis n pinworm disease/infestation AHD/W7
silurid n freshwater Eurasian catfish AHD
squirrel n small/medium-sized rodent AHD/W7
trichuriasis n whipworm disease/infestation AHD/W7
-urous adj.sfx -tailed AHD/W7
West Germanic  
Old Frisian: ers n arse ASD
Frisian: earse, earz n arse ASD
Dutch: aars n.masc arse ASD
ezel n ass: donkey CDC
Old Saxon: esil n ass: donkey CDC
Old High German: ars n.masc arse ASD/W7
esil n ass: donkey CDC
Middle High German: ars n.masc arse ASD
esel n ass: donkey CDC
German: Arsch n.masc/fem arse ASD/W7
Esel n.masc ass: donkey CDC
North Germanic  
Old Norse: ars n arse W7
asni n.masc ass: donkey ASD
Icelandic: ars, rass n.masc arse ASD
asna n.fem ass: donkey CDC
asni n.masc ass: donkey CDC
Danish: ar(t)s n.masc/fem arse ASD
asen n ass: donkey CDC
esel, æsel n ass: donkey CDC
Swedish: ars n.masc arse ASD
åsna n ass: donkey CDC
East Germanic  
Gothic: asilus n ass: donkey CDC
Italic  
Latin: asinus n.masc ass: donkey W7
cynosura n.fem Ursa Minor W7
sciurus n.masc squirrel W7
Vulgar Latin: scuriolus n.masc small squirrel W7
scurius n.masc squirrel W7
New Latin: Anthurium prop.n (genus name for) anthurium AHD
Anura n (order of) frogs/toads AHD
eremurus adj solitary W7
oxyuriasis n.fem pinworm disease/infestation W7
Oxyuris n.fem (genus of) worm W7
trichuriasis n.fem whipworm disease/infestation W7
Trichuris n.fem (genus of) worm W7
-urus sfx having a tail W7
Portuguese: asno n ass: donkey CDC
doudo adj silly, stupid W7
Spanish: asno n ass: donkey CDC
Old French: asne n ass: donkey CDC
Middle French: cynosure n.fem cynosure W7
esquireul n.masc squirrel W7
French: âne n.masc ass: donkey CDC
Provençal: asne n ass: donkey CDC
Italian: asino n ass: donkey CDC
Baltic  
Old Prussian: asilis n ass: donkey CDC
Lithuanian: asilas n ass: donkey CDC
Slavic  
Polish: osieł, osioł n ass: donkey CDC
Czech: osel n ass: donkey CDC
Old Church Slavonic: osĭlŭ n ass: donkey CDC
Russian: oselŭ n ass: donkey CDC
Hellenic  
Greek: κῠνόσ-ουρα n.fem cynosure, lit. dog's tail LS
ὄνος n.masc/fem ass: donkey CDC/LS
ὄρρος n.masc arse LRC
οὐρά n.fem tail LRC
Armenian  
Armenian: oṙ n arse LRC

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
adj=adjective
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
prop=proper
sfx=suffix

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code Citation
AHD=Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD=Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC=W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS=Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

Nearby etymon:    previous   |   next


  • Linguistics Research Center

    University of Texas at Austin
    PCL 5.556
    Mailcode S5490
    Austin, Texas 78712
    512-471-4566

  • For comments and inquiries, or to report issues, please contact the Web Master at UTLRC@utexas.edu