*atgaizaz

From *at + *gaizaz. The compound is reflected independently in Old English ætgār, Old Frisian etgēr, Old High German azgēr, and Old Norse atgeirr, supporting Proto-Germanic antiquity (Lloyd & Springer 1988: s.v. azgêr). The first constituent probably denotes motion or attack toward/against an opponent: Lloyd and Springer interpret PGmc *at- as marking the spear’s movement against the enemy, rather than simply as an intensifier. Thus, the compound may originally have meant approximately ‘attack spear’ or ‘spear directed against (an enemy)’. Old Norse atgeirr later developed specialized weapon senses and ultimately denoted ‘halberd’ in Icelandic (Orkisz 2016: 186–92). The second constituent *gaizaz continues late Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰois-ó-, probably from root *ǵʰeis-; compare Sanskrit हेषस् (heṣas). Recent work regards Proto-Celtic *gaiso- as probably borrowed from Germanic rather than an inherited cognate (van Sluis et al. 2023: 221–22).