*wēpną

Runic: ᚹᛖᛈᚾᚨ Pronunciation: /ˈwɛːp.nɑ̃/

noun · neuter · a-stem

Meanings

weapon

Etymology

Of uncertain origin.

Based on the variant form *wēbną (whence Old Norse vámn, Old English wǣmn), Kroonen derives both from an earlier noun *wēbō, itself from an iterative verb *wappōną (‘to wave, shake’) (whence Old English wafian (‘to wave’), Old High German waben, wappen (‘to waver, shake’), Dutch wapperen (‘idem’)). Said verb is thought to be either sound-symbolic or related to Proto-Germanic *webaną (‘to weave’).

Other theories tentatively compare Tocharian B yepe (knife) (knife); if so, both may derive from a Proto-Indo-European form such as *wēbnom or *wēben.

Declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	wēpną	wēpnō
Acc.	wēpną	wēpnō
Gen.	wēpnas, wēpnis	wēpnǫ̂
Dat.	wēpnai	wēpnamaz
Inst.	wēpnō	wēpnamiz
Voc.	wēpną	wēpnō

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Descendants

*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wāpan (Old Dutch)
  - wapen (Middle Dutch)
    - wapen (Dutch)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wǣpn, wǣpen, wǣmn (Old English)
  - wepen, wepne, wepyn, wapon, weapon, wepene, wepon, weppen, wapen, wapyn, wæpenn (Middle English)
    - weapon (English)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wǣpn, wǣpen, wǣmn (Old English)
  - wepen, wepne, wepyn, wapon, weapon, wepene, wepon, weppen, wapen, wapyn, wæpenn (Middle English)
    - wapyn, wapoun, wappin (Middle Scots)
      - wappen, wappin (Scots)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- *wāpin, wēpin (Old Frisian)
  - Woapen (Saterland Frisian)
  - wapen (West Frisian)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wāfan (Old High German)
  - wāfen, wapen (Middle High German)
    - Waaffe (Alemannic German)
    - וואָפֿן (vofn) (Yiddish)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wāfan (Old High German)
  - wāfen, wapen (Middle High German)
    - ? (Central Franconian)
      - Waff (Hunsrik)
      - Waff (Luxembourgish)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wāfan (Old High German)
  - wāfen, wapen (Middle High German)
    - Waffe (German)
      - Waffe (German Low German)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wāpan (Old Saxon)
  - wāpen (Middle Low German)
    - Wapen, Wopen (German Low German)
*wāpn (Proto-West Germanic)
- wāpan (Old Saxon)
  - wāpen (Middle Low German)
    - wāpen (Middle High German)
      - Wappen (German)
vápn (Old Norse)
- wapen, waken- (Elfdalian)
- vápn, vákn (Faroese)
- vopn, vokn (Icelandic)
- våpn, våpen, våknhus, våkenhus (Norwegian Nynorsk)
vápn (Old Norse)
- wapen (Northern Middle English)
  - wapyn, wapoun, wappin (Middle Scots)
    - wappen, wappin (Scots)
vápn (Old Norse)
- wāpn, wākn (Old Danish)
  - vaben (Scanian)
vápn (Old Norse)
- wāpn, wākn (Old Danish)
  - våben (Danish)
    - våpen (Norwegian Bokmål)
vápn (Old Norse)
- vapn (Old Gutnish)
  - vapen (Gutnish)
𐍅𐌴𐍀𐌽 (wēpn) (Gothic)

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