LL-L "Etymology" 2008.11.02 (02) [A/E]

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From: Kevin & Cheryl Caldwell <kevin.caldwell1963 at verizon.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.11.01 (06) [D/E]

Could the first one be connected with English "haze, hazy"?  Could the
second one be connected with English "hoary"?  And where does English
"gray/grey" fit in?

Kevin Caldwell

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Petrus *et al.*,

I go along with what Arend says above. However ...

According to my sources:

"hare", *haas*, etc. < Indo-European **k**̂**asen-* ~ **k**̂**aso-* 'gray'
cf. Old English *hasu* 'grayish broun'

cf. Old German *hasan* 'gray', 'lustrous'
cf. Old Prussian *sasnîs* 'hare'
cf. Sanskrit शशाः *śaśā-ḥ* 'hare'
So, "hare" meaning "gray one" goes way back.

Dutch *heer*, German *Herr* 'lord', 'master' are derived from the following:
*hehr* < Old German *hēr* 'senior', 'superior', 'august', 'sublime', etc.
cf. Old English *hár* 'gray'
cf. Old Norse *hárr* 'gray'
< Germanic **haira-*'gray'
cf. Russian *серый* (*seryj*) 'gray'
cf. Polish *szary *'gray'
cf. Lithuanian *širmas*, *širvas* 'dapple-gray'
Old Prussian *sîwan *'gray'
So, it was a gray-haired man that was a senior, and elder, and this Germanic
word was the equivalent of Latin *senior*.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron


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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Kevin,

You may well be right on both counts.

You definitely are with regard to "hoar", which comes from Old English
*har*'gray', 'venerable', 'senior', thus the equivalent of Dutch
*heer* and German *Herr*. "Hoar-frost" is a derivation alluding to the
color.

As for "haze" and "hazy", the jury is still out. Many do connect them with
words for "hare". The problem is that they are attested very late:
*hawsey*(> hazy) in 1625 as a nautical term, "haze" in 1706, most
likely as a back
formation. You might say that "grayness" and "haze" go together
semantically. However, there's a complicating factor in what may be a case
of folk etymology in folk traditions (*Online Etymological Dictionary*):

Some connect it with Ger. hase "hare," an animal which plays an important
part in Gmc. folklore, with many supernatural and unlucky aspects in
medieval times (among the superstitions: a dead hare should not be brought
aboard a fishing ship, and the word hare should not be spoken at sea).
Another suggestion is O.E. hasu, haswe "gray."


Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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From: ppvaneeden at ziggo.nl
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.11.01 (06) [D/E]

Ron,

Baie dankie vir jou antwoord. Dit bevestig 'n vermoede wat ek gehad het. Die
woord *heer *het 'n verhewe betekenis. Hierdie woord kom in talle
Nederlandse plekname voor soos Heerlen, Heerenveen, ens. Die woord *heer *is
vandag self die aanspreektitel van die Christelike God. Die *haas* as
vrugbaarheidssimbool in die Germaanse mitologie het vroeër ook 'n verhewe
betekenis geken.

Hartelijke groete,

Petrus van Eeden
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