Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/75

Dau origin of dúnn is obscure. See,.   ,, ‘deuce (of dice), ace (of cards),’ from dûs, tûs, with the same meanings; late  dûs. From a word originating in the  duo;  dous ( deux,  duas, from  *duos for duo), whence  deuce. Dice-playiug was a favourite amusement even among the Teutons described by Tacitus (Germ. 24); unfortunately, however, we can gather nothing from his brief remarks as to the details and technical terms (but see, , ) of the game; this words died out at an early period, and with the new games from the South new  words have been introduced. See, ,.   ,, ‘dean,’ from dëchent, tëchant(d),  and  tëchân from  dĕcânus, whence also  decano,  doyen ( dean).   ,, ‘a tale of ten hides,’ from the  tëcker, dëcher,  ; borrowed by  from  decuria.   ,, ‘cover, ceiling, disguise,’ from dęcke, , ‘cover, covering, covering up’;  dęchî, related to the following word.  ,, ‘to cover, screen,’ from the  dęcken,  dęcchan; the latter (with cch- from kj) from *þakjan, which was most likely the  form;   þęccan (obsolete in );  þekja, ‘to cover.’ þakjan is a  of the Aryan root teg (discussed under ), which appears with the same meaning in  tegere,  σ-τέγεω,  sthagâmi. A  þekan corresponding to tego, στέγω, is is nowhere recorded within the  group; the   has assumed its function. ,, only, from  destig; the latter, with  daft,  gedœft, ‘mild, meek, gentle’ ( gadaban, ‘to be fitting’), and perhaps with  , is derived from a  root dab, dap. See.   (1.),, ‘valiant warrior’; it is not etymologically a sort of figurative sense of (2.), though the tendency of  is to regard it thus, in such expressions as , ‘a practised swordsman,’ &c. While, ‘sword,’ first appears in the 15th , , ‘hero,’ is an word, which is wanting in  (*þigns) only. dëgan, þëgn, ‘retainer, attendant,’  thane (from  þegn);  dëgen, ‘hero.’ There is to phonetic difficulty in connecting these cognates ( þigna-, from teknó-), as is usually done, with  τέκνον, ‘child’; the difference in sense may be paralleled by  magu, ‘boy, son, servant, man.’ But since þëgn was already an established technical term in the  system, we must in preference regard ‘vassal’ as the primary sense of the word. We have too in þius (stem þiwa-) for þigwá-, ‘servant, attendant’ ( þeó, þeów,  diu; see  and ), a more suitable connecting link. Moreover, þëgn,, would, if cognate with τέκνον, be related to τίκτω, ‘to give birth to,’ τοκεύς, ‘begetter,’ τόκος, ‘birth,’ and takman, ‘child.’

 (2.),, ‘sword,’ first occurs in late see  (1.); from  dague, ‘dirk.’  ,, ‘to stretch, extend, lengthen,’ from and  denen, dennen,  , ‘to stretch, draw, strain’;   ufþanjan, ‘to extend’;  þenian, þennan, ‘to stretch.’ The  þanjan is a  of a   *þënan, like þakjan, ‘to cover,’ from a   *þëkan ( tego); þanja and þëna are  cognate with  τείνω. The root ten is widely diffused in the Aryan group. root tan, ‘to strain, widen, extend (of time), endure’; tántu-s,, ‘thread,’ tánti-s, , ‘line, rope’; τείνω, τάνυμαι, τάσις, τένων, ‘sinew,’ ταινία, ‘strip’;  teneto, tonoto, ‘cord,’  tenus, ‘cord,’  tìnklas, ‘net.’ The idea of extension is shown also by the root ten ( teneo, tendo) in an old Aryan ; see  and. A figurative sense of the same root is seen in ; the evolution of meaning may be ‘extension—sound—noise.’  ,, ‘dike’; tîch, ; since the  word would, according to phonetic laws, begin with t, we must suppose that it has been influenced, like  perhaps, by ;   dîk,  dijk,  dîc,  dike. Respecting their identity with  and  dike (‘a ditch’), see.    (1.), ‘pole, thill, shaft,’ from the   dîhsel,  dîhsala, ;   þísl,  þîxl, þîsl,  dissel,  thîsla,. It has no connection with thill, which is related rather to. A word peculiar to the dialects, and of obscure origin; perhaps  témo, ‘pole, shaft,’ is  allied (if it represents <section end="Deichsel" />