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: u̯eidh-, u̯idh-   'to divide, separate; widow'

Semantic Field(s): to Split, Widow

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
English  
Old English: wāsa n.masc wild man, forlorn/abandoned person LRC
widuwa n.masc widower W7
widuwe, wuduwe n.fem widow W7
wudu-wāsa n.masc woodwose ASD
Middle English: devisen vb to devise W7
dividen vb to divide W7
widewe n widow W7
woodwose n woodwose OED
English: devise vb.trans to invent, form in mind AHD/W7
divide vb to separate into parts/groups/areas AHD/W7
point-device adj precise, meticulous, scrupulously neat/correct AHD
widow n woman who lost husband by death AHD/W7
widower n man who lost wife by death AHD/W7
woodwose n faun, satyr; wild woodsman OED
Wose prop.n Wild Man in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings LRC
West Germanic  
Old Frisian: wēsa n orphan IEW
widwe n.fem widow ASD
Dutch: wees n orphan LRC
Old Saxon: widowa n.fem widow ASD
Old High German: weiso n orphan IEW
wituwa, witawa n.fem widow ASD/W7
witwo n.masc widower ASD
German: Waise n.fem orphan IEW
Witwe n.fem widow LRC
East Germanic  
Gothic: widuwaírna n.masc orphan IEW
widuwō n.fem widow ASD/IEW
Italic  
Latin: dīvidō, dīvidere vb to divide W7
divisus vb.ptc divided W7
vidua n.fem widow W7
Vulgar Latin: diviso, divisāre vb to devise W7
Old French: diviser vb to divide W7
Baltic  
Lithuanian: vidurỹs n.masc inside, interior LRC
vidùs n.masc inside, interior LRC
Hellenic  
Homeric Greek: ἠίθεος n.masc bachelor, unmarried youth LRC

 

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

Abbrev. Meaning
adj=adjective
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
prop=proper
ptc=participle
trans=transitive
vb=verb

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)
IEW=Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
OED=James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933)
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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