*kweþuz

Runic: ᚲᚹᛖᚦᚢᛉ Pronunciation: /ˈkwe.θuz/

noun · masculine · u-stem

Meanings

  1. belly, stomach
  2. womb

Etymology

Of disputed origin.

Orel, reconstructing the Germanic as *kwiþuz, prefers to derive the term from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃-tu-s (and thus formally identical to Proto-Celtic *bitus (‘world’)), from *gʷeyh₃- (‘to live’), with a similar semantic shift "life" > "belly" as seen in Proto-Slavic *živòtъ (‘life; belly’).

Kroonen is skeptical of the putative semantic shift required, and leaves the origin open.

Older theories deriving the word from a Proto-Indo-European *gʷet-, *gūt- (‘swelling, rounding; stomach, gut’), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷu-, *gū- (‘to bend, curve, bow, camber, vault, distend’), appear formally unconvincing.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.kweþuzkwiþiwiz
Acc.kweþųkweþunz
Gen.kweþauzkwiþiwǫ̂
Dat.kwiþiwikweþumaz
Inst.kweþūkweþumiz
Voc.kweþukwiþiwiz

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Descendants

  • cwiþ (Old English)
    • (in compound: kidenere, kidnere
      • kite, kidney (English)
      • kyte (Scots)
  • cwiþ (Old English)
    • *kid, *kit (Middle English)
      • kite, kidney (English)
      • kyte (Scots)
  • cwiþa (Old English)
    • (in compound: kidenere, kidnere
      • kite, kidney (English)
      • kyte (Scots)
  • cwiþa (Old English)
    • *kid, *kit (Middle English)
      • kite, kidney (English)
      • kyte (Scots)
  • cwedele (Old English)
    • (in compound: kidenere, kidnere
      • kite, kidney (English)
      • kyte (Scots)
  • cwedele (Old English)
    • *kid, *kit (Middle English)
      • kite, kidney (English)
      • kyte (Scots)
  • *kweth (Old Saxon)
    • quede (Middle Low German)
  • quiti (Old High German)
    • chwadilla, kwedilla, quedilla (Old High German)
      • kutel (Middle High German)
        • Kuttel, Quaddel (German)
  • quoden (Old High German)
    • chwadilla, kwedilla, quedilla (Old High German)
      • kutel (Middle High German)
        • Kuttel, Quaddel (German)
  • kviðr (Old Norse)
    • kviður, kvið (Faroese)
    • kviður (Icelandic)
    • kwith (Old Danish)
  • kviðr (Old Norse)
    • qviþer (Old Swedish)
      • kved (Swedish)
  • 𐌵𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 (qiþus) (Gothic)

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