æðr

æðr

See also: œðr

Faroese

Alternative forms

• æður (Suðuroy)

Etymology

From Old Norse æðr, from Proto-Germanic *ēdrǭ, *ēþrǭ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [akɹ]

Noun

æðr f (genitive singular æðrar, plural æðrar)

1. vein, vessel

Declension

f6	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	æðr	æðrin	æðrar	æðrarnar
Accusative	æðr	æðrina	æðrar	æðrarnar
Dative	æðr	æðrini	æðrum	æðrunum
Genitive	æðrar	æðrarinnar	æðra	æðranna

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Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *ēdrǭ, *ēþrǭ; whence also Old English ǣder, ǣdre, Old High German ādara (German Ader).

Noun

æðr f (genitive æðar, dative æði, plural æðar)

1. vein

Declension

  Declension of æðr (strong ijō-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	æðr	æðrin	æðar	æðarnar
accusative	æði	æðina	æðar	æðarnar
dative	æði	æðinni	æðum	æðunum
genitive	æðar	æðarinnar	æða	æðanna

Descendants

In Old Icelandic, the word lost its radical r, it being reinterpreted as a nominative ending, and comes to be nominative æðr, accusative and dative æði, genitive æðar, plural æðar, leading to the modern Icelandic æð, whereas the radical r is preserved in Faroese, as well as in the other Nordic languages.

• Faroese: æðr, æður (Suðuroy)
• Icelandic: æð
• Norwegian: år, åre
• Old Swedish: āþra, ādher
  • Swedish: åder, ådra
• Old Danish: athræ
  • Danish: åre
• Westrobothnian: år, ar

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Cognate to Proto-Samic *(h)āvtë, either from a common unattested language or through mutual loans. Sanskrit आति (āti, “a type of aquatic bird”) has been suggested, but it is inconsistent with either Sami cognates or the unattested masculine form *áðr, both suggesting a Proto-Germanic *aw(V)diz, probably Proto-Germanic *awadiz. Derivations from an ultimate Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwis are considered "unconvincing" by Guus Kroonen, which strengthens the non-Indo-European substrate hypothesis.

According to Watkins, from a North Germanic root [script needed] (*athi), from Proto-Germanic *ethi-, from a theoretical Proto-Indo-European root *eti- (“eider”).[1]

Compare the difficulty in precising the relationship between Old Norse igða (“small bird”) and Akkala Sami avigʒinĉ (“chickadee”).

Noun

æðr f (genitive æðar, dative æði, plural æðar)

1. eider

Declension

  Declension of æðr (strong ijō-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	æðr	æðrin	æðar	æðarnar
accusative	æði	æðina	æðar	æðarnar
dative	æði	æðinni	æðum	æðunum
genitive	æðar	æðarinnar	æða	æðanna

Descendants

• Faroese: æða f
• Icelandic: æður f
  • → Danish: edder c
  • → German: Eider f
  • → English: eider
  • → Swedish: ejder c
• Norwegian: ær f, æd f
• Swedish: åda c

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “eider”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

References

• Aikio, Ante. 2004. "An essay on substrate studies and the origin of Saami". Mémoires de la Société néophilologique de Helsinki 63: 5–34.
• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)
• Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*awadī-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 44