*arfô

Runic: ᚨᚱᚠᛟ Pronunciation: /ˈɑr.ɸɔːː/

noun · masculine · an-stem

Meanings

chickweed

Etymology

Probably a prehistoric Wanderwort from an unidentified Mediterranean, perhaps eastern Mediterranean, source (de Vaan 2008: 195, s.v. ervum; de Vries 1977: 12–13, s.v. arfi; Edlund 2013: 112–15; Kroonen 2013: 34, s.v. arfan-; Orel 2003: 25, s.v. arfōn-). Related forms include Latin ervum and Ancient Greek ὄροβος (órobos), but the forms cannot plausibly be derived from a single Proto-Indo-European proto form and are better regarded as independent borrowings from a common source. The word had already reached Germanic in prehistoric times; a relationship with *arwīts is probable but not fully understood (Edlund 2013: 112–15; Kroonen 2013: 37, s.v. *arwīt-; Meester 2024: 293–96).

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.arfôarfaniz
Acc.arfanųarfanunz
Gen.arfinizarfanǫ̂
Dat.arfiniarfammaz
Inst.arfinēarfammiz
Voc.arfôarfaniz

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Descendants

  • *arfō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *arfo (Old Dutch)
      • *erfe (Middle Dutch)
        • erf (Dutch)
  • *arfō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • earfan (Old English)
  • *arfō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *arfa (Old Frisian)
      • arf, arve (Saterland Frisian)
  • *arfō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *arfo (Old Saxon)
      • *arfe (Middle Low German)
        • Arf (Low German)
        • arfi (Old Norse)
  • ᛅᚱᚠᛁ (arfi), ᛅᚱᚠᛅ (arfa), ᛅᚱᚠᛅᛦ (arfaʀ), ᛅᚱᚠᛅ (arfa), ᛅᚱᚠᛅᚱ (arfar) (Old Norse)
    • arve (Danish)
    • arvi (Faroese)
    • arfi (Icelandic)
    • arve, arv, narve (Norwegian Nynorsk)
  • ᛅᚱᚠᛁ (arfi), ᛅᚱᚠᛅ (arfa), ᛅᚱᚠᛅᛦ (arfaʀ), ᛅᚱᚠᛅ (arfa), ᛅᚱᚠᛅᚱ (arfar) (Old Norse)
    • arve (Old Swedish)
      • arv (Swedish)

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Words mentioned in this entry