*aizō

Runic: ᚨᛁᛉᛟ Pronunciation: /ˈɑi̯.zɔː/

noun · feminine · ō-stem

Meanings

  1. reverence, respect, honor
  2. favor, benevolence, mercy; assistance or protection

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂oys-éh₂-, an o-grade feminine abstract, from an otherwise poorly attested root *h₂eys- and possibly related to the d-extended root *h₂eysd- reflected in Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (aistan) (Kroonen 2013: s.v. *aizō-; Rix et al. 2001: s.v. *h₂eisd-). Since no secure non-Germanic cognate directly continues *h₂oys-éh₂-, the deeper PIE analysis remains uncertain. The Germanic meanings ‘honor, reverence’, ‘favor, mercy’, ‘help, protection’, and ‘gift, reward’ are developments of a broad sense ‘respectful or benevolent treatment’ (Must 1961: 326–28). A possible early inscription of the word in the form of Latin “Alaisiagae” comes from 3rd century CE inscriptions at a shrine in Housesteads in Northumbria, England, presumably built by Frisians. The German philologist Wilhem Scherer (1841–1886) considered the word to be made up of Proto-Germanic **al- (< *allaz, ‘all’) and **ais- < *aizō (‘reverence, respect, honor’) (Mees 2023b: 128–36).

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.aizōaizôz
Acc.aizǭaizōz
Gen.aizōzaizǫ̂
Dat.aizōiaizōmaz
Inst.aizōaizōmiz
Voc.aizōaizôz

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Descendants

  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old Dutch)
      • êre (Middle Dutch)
        • ieër (Limburgish)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old Dutch)
      • êre (Middle Dutch)
        • eer (Dutch)
          • eer (Afrikaans)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ār, āre (Old English)
      • ore, oore, or, ȝore, aore, are, ære, ar (Middle English)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēre, ēr (Old Frisian)
      • Eere (Saterland Frisian)
      • eare (West Frisian)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old High German)
      • ēre (Middle High German)
        • Ehre (German)
        • Ehr, Ihr (Rhine Franconian)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old Saxon)
      • ēre (Middle Low German)
        • Ehr, Ehre (Low German)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old Saxon)
      • ēre (Middle Low German)
        • æra, eir (Old Norse)
          • ære (Danish)
          • æra, eirdómur, eirgingin, eirgrønur, eiring (Faroese)
          • æra, eir (Icelandic)
          • ære (Norwegian Bokmål)
          • ære (Norwegian Nynorsk)
          • ära (Swedish)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old Saxon)
      • ēre (Middle Low German)
        • æra, eir (Old Norse)
          • ir (Danish)
            • irr (Norwegian Bokmål)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old Saxon)
      • ēre (Middle Low German)
        • æra, eir (Old Norse)
          • eir (Norwegian Nynorsk)
            • eir (Norwegian Bokmål)
  • *aiʀu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēra (Old Saxon)
      • ēre (Middle Low German)
        • æra, eir (Old Norse)
          • ēr (Old Swedish)
            • ärg (Swedish)

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