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WIKTIONARY VIA KAIKKI / WIKTEXTRACT
Imported dictionary evidence
These are source reports, not reviewed *SET-U ancestry. A list of templates or numbered etymologies is not an ancestor chain. Scholarly disagreements remain in the original source text.
35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCALNo exact match for “Fer” in this partial English subset. That does not mean the full research corpus—or linguistic scholarship—has no record. Check the original dictionary entry ↗
INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
More sources for this spelling
These are spelling matches, not a claim of identical senses or agreement. Historical accounts retain their own editions and limits; none is automatically promoted into reviewed ancestry.
Mayhew–Skeat (1888)
1888; pinned HTML transcription updated October 28, 2024- FerMiddle English · word_fer_sb
Fer, sb. fire, S; fere, dat., S2; uere, S2; ueree, S; see Fur.
Read the full source record → - FerMiddle English · word_fer_adj
Fer, adj., adv. far, PP, S, S2, C2; ferr, S, S2, PP; uer, S2; feor, S; ueor, S; for, S; ferre, comp., C; ferrer, S3, C, PP; ferrest, superl., PP. Comb.: ferforth, far away, completely, S2, S3, C2, C3; farforth, S3; feoru
Read the full source record →
Fer
No extractable etymology was found for this exact spelling. Open the original dictionary entry ↗
Read the complete entry and references ↗ · Contribute a cited dossier
0112
MODERN ENTRY POINTS
WORD DOSSIERS
German masculine nounhistorical form
Feind
The modern German noun for a personal, political, military, or ideological enemy or opponent. Duden derives it through Middle High German vīnt or vīant and Old High German fīand, literally the hating one; DWDS dates Old High German fīant and fījant to the eighth century and identifies the Germanic ancestor as a petrified substantivized present participle. Grimm’s dictionary independently compares Gothic fijands, Old English fēond, English fiend, Dutch vijand, and Nordic forms, while warning that its own still-deeper foam hypothesis required confirmation. The reviewed route therefore follows the inherited enemy noun to reconstructed *fi(j)and- and *fi(j)ēn-, then treats *peh₁- as proposed and stops.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗German masculine nouncontrarian claim
Freund
German Freund continues Middle High German vriunt and Old High German friunt. DWDS/Pfeifer, Duden, and Grimm independently analyze the inherited Germanic formation as a substantivized present participle of the verb represented by Gothic frijōn and Old English frēogan: historically a loving or favorably disposed one. The record is semantically wider than a modern close companion: the historical dictionaries also document neighbor, relative, lover, ally, supporter, patron, address, and euphemistic uses. The graph joins the High German line to the same reviewed *frijōnd- and *frī- nodes as English friend, keeps *prī- proposed, and stops.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗German masculine noundossier summary
Hass
The modern German noun for intense aversion, rejection, or hostility toward a person, group, or institution. Duden traces Middle and Old High German haʒ to suffering, sorrow, and resentment and records the 1996 spelling change from Haß to Hass. DWDS/Pfeifer reports the Old High German noun from the eighth century and places it in the Germanic family of Old Saxon heti, Old English hete, Old Norse hatr, Gothic hatis, and related forms. Grimm’s DWB preserves a more complicated semantic record: hostile pursuit or action, anger expressed in deeds, ordinary hostile disposition, and even measured rivalry during friendly competition. The reviewed route reuses *hatiz- and the qualified *ḱh₂d-es- / *ḱeh₂d- comparison, then stops.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗nouncontrarian claim
Liebe
The German noun for love, inherited through Middle and Old High German and a Germanic abstract-noun formation distinct from the immediate noun ancestry of English love.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗nouncontrarian claim
alpaca
An English animal and fiber word borrowed through Spanish from Aymara allpaqa / allphaqa.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗noun · adjectivecontrarian claim
arithmetic
The art or practice of counting and calculation; transmitted from Greek arithmos “number” through Latin and French.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗adjectivecontrarian claim
chthonic
Of the underworld or of things in and under the earth; a learned English continuation of the Greek earth family.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗verb · noun · adjectivedossier summary
collect
To bring together, accumulate, infer, or receive; from Latin colligere, literally built with a together-prefix and legere.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗nouncontrarian claim
dough
A kneadable flour mixture; inherited from Old English dāg through a Germanic formation on the Indo-European form-and-build root.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗adjectivedossier summary
etymological
Of, relating to, or based on etymology; an Early Modern English adjective whose exact formation is described differently by major historical dictionaries.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗noun and adjectivecontrarian claim
female
A sex-class term borrowed through French from Latin fēmella, a diminutive of fēmina, with its English spelling later remodeled under male.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗English nounhistorical form
fiend
An inherited English noun whose earliest recorded sense was enemy or foe, not demon. Old English fēond belonged to a Germanic lexicalized one-who-hates formation; Middle English fẹ̄nd preserved enemy, Satan, demon, possession, and monster senses across extensive spelling variation; modern fiend continues the same English line. OED’s revised 2026 entry marks the literal enemy sense obsolete after the medieval record, explains the Devil as the ultimate Enemy, and documents long-versus-short vowel competition before the long vowel became dominant by the eighteenth century. The Middle English Dictionary independently exposes 188 quotations across eight senses without claiming a complete corpus.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗0212
ATTESTED / RECONSTRUCTED / BOUNDARY
HISTORICAL FORMS
●
Latin / Indo-European
ferre
to bear, carry, bring, report, or propose
- DATE
- Latin antiquity
- MATCH
- historical-form prefix
- DOSSIERS
- 0
Proto-Indo-European / Indo-European
*h₃órbʰos
person or property transferred; bereaved person, orphan, or dependent
- DATE
- Proto-Indo-European prehistory
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Proto-Indo-European / Indo-European
*peh₁-
a proposed base associated with harm, blame, suffering, or hate
- DATE
- proposed Proto-Indo-European base
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 14
Proto-Finnic / Uralic
*sakna
sauna; proposed earlier stove reference
- DATE
- Proto-Finnic reconstruction
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Middle English / Indo-European
collecten
to accumulate, infer, calculate
- DATE
- Middle English
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Old French / Indo-European
ethimologie
title reference, word explanation, or learned wordplay depending on the witness
- DATE
- Old French records from c. 1175
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Old High German / Indo-European
haʒ
hostile disposition, resentment, enmity, suffering, or sorrow
- DATE
- Old High German, reported from the eighth century
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Present-Day English / Indo-European
hotel
a public lodging establishment, usually offering additional services
- DATE
- 1687–today
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Present-Day English / Indo-European
kimchi
Korean fermented vegetable preparation
- DATE
- 1888–today
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Present-Day English / Indo-European
mango
the fruit or tree of Mangifera indica
- DATE
- 1582–today
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Present-Day English / Indo-European
mouse
a small rodent; later many transferred senses
- DATE
- before the 12th century–today
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
Present-Day English / Indo-European
yogurt
a fermented semisolid milk food
- DATE
- 1625–today
- MATCH
- gloss
- DOSSIERS
- 1
0324
WHERE INTERPRETATION IS TESTED
CLAIMS & DISPUTES
SCHOLARLY DISPUTES / 12
openproposedposition text
Was the original meaning hostile pursuit or suffering and sorrow?
Unresolved. DWB argues for hostile pursuit or persecution as the original center; Duden glosses the origin as suffering, sorrow, and resentment; DWDS foregrounds hostile disposition, resentment, and enmity.
openprobableposition text
Does the English record begin in the 13th or 14th century?
The reviewed reports differ. Etymonline gives an early-thirteenth-century algorism; Merriam-Webster gives a fourteenth-century first-known-use horizon.
openprobableposition text
Does the English record begin in the 13th or 15th century?
The reviewed source reports differ. Etymonline gives mid-thirteenth-century arsmetike; Merriam-Webster gives a fifteenth-century first-known-use horizon.
openproposedposition text
Is the deepest counting root *h₂rei- or *erei-dhmo- from *re-?
The references use different levels and notations: Merriam-Webster derives the Greek base through *h₂rei-, while Etymonline prints an expanded *erei-dhmo- formation tied to *re-.
openproposedposition text
Does boy securely descend from a word for ox hide?
No. American Heritage offers a possible chain through a fettered person, fetter, Latin restraint collar, and Greek ox hide; Oxford labels the origin unknown.
openproposedposition text
Are the prayer and gathering senses identical histories?
They converge on Latin collēctus / colligere, but the prayer noun may refer specifically to a congregation’s gathering place; the immediate motivation is qualified as “perhaps.”
openprobableposition text
Exactly which Romance language handed the word to English?
French and Italian stages are both central in reference accounts; a single linear donor route can overstate the surviving evidence.
openprobableposition text
Does the English record begin in 1588 or the 1590s?
The reports differ slightly: Merriam-Webster gives 1588 and Etymonline gives the 1590s. Neither date proves the word was coined then.
openprobableposition text
Does the specialist title begin in 1604 or the 1630s?
Merriam-Webster reports 1604; Etymonline reports the 1630s. These are different source horizons, not necessarily irreconcilable claims about the same underlying object.
openproposedposition text
Is *set-u- certain?
No. It is a serious published reconstruction, but the exact morphology and wider family are analyzed differently by scholars.
openproposedposition text
Does fiende securely descend from exactly *peh₁-?
Only as a qualified modern proposal. Kroonen publishes the route; Hellquist records a historically different deeper comparison, and neither recovers a written ancestral token or unique original semantic scene.
openproposedposition text
Does fijan securely descend from *peh₁-?
Only as a proposal. The Germanic *fi(j)ēn- comparison is stronger than the deeper route; the exact intermediate morphology and semantic unity of harm, blame, suffering, and hate remain reconstructive.
CONTRARIAN TRUTHS / 12
RANK 10GRADE Aranked reveal
Andean neighbors need not be linguistic cousins.
Alpaca comes from Aymara while llama comes from Quechua: the words travel through Spanish from different families.
RANK 12GRADE Aranked reveal
A Turkish word is not proof of who invented the food.
English yogurt is Turkish yoğurt, probably related to yoğur- “knead”; the origin of fermented milk is a different historical question.
RANK 20GRADE Aranked reveal
King is a kin-word, not a royal word.
English king continues Old English cyning and Germanic *kuninga-, built on the kin or lineage base *kunja-. Latin rēx, royal, and regal belong to a different root—and even “leader of the kin” overstates the disputed original Germanic sense.
RANK 27GRADE Aranked reveal
The Old English verb survives most visibly as an enemy.
The located weak-verb corpus inventory gives hettan only one form: hettende. Bosworth–Toller records that surface family repeatedly under hettend, “enemy” or “antagonist,” including Genesis and the Phoenix. The verb is therefore not a neat recovered paradigm; it is a lemma inferred at the edge between action, agent, and lexicalized foe.
RANK 32GRADE Aranked reveal
Enemy is a fossilized hater—but 21 Gothic tokens still refuse to choose.
Project Wulfila lists 42 candidates under fijan and 26 under the enemy noun fijands. Their intersection is exactly 21 surface tokens. Ayora Estevan explains the collision: *fi(j)and- had lexicalized as enemy before Gothic, while Gothic still possessed the productive present participle one who hates. Case and syntax resolve some passages; the remaining 21 stay public as noun-versus-participle ambiguity.
RANK 33GRADE Aranked reveal
Enemy is a fossilized hater—but lexicalization does not make every token transparent.
Project Wulfila lists 26 candidates under the Gothic enemy noun and 42 under the verb fijan; exactly 21 surface tokens belong to both inventories. Ayora Estevan explains why: Proto-Germanic had already lexicalized one who hates as enemy, while Gothic retained the productive participle. The five noun-only tokens are directly inspected; the 21-token overlap remains public instead of being counted twice as certainty.
RANK 34GRADE Aranked reveal
The Devil entered English as the Enemy—and the enemy was a fossilized hater.
OED’s revised history identifies fiend as an inherited Germanic noun made from the present participle of the hate verb. Old English fēond meant enemy and foe as well as Devil; OED explains Satan as the ultimate Enemy and marks the literal enemy sense obsolete after the medieval period. Cotton MS Vitellius A XV still visibly preserves feondes in a concrete foe’s-footprint scene at Beowulf 2289.
RANK 35GRADE Aranked reveal
A fiend was an enemy before it was a demon.
OED’s revised history starts with enemy or foe and explains the Devil as the ultimate Enemy. The English noun continues Old English fēond, itself inherited from a Germanic lexicalized one-who-hates formation. Middle English then preserves enemy, Satan, demon, possession, and monster senses together before the literal enemy sense becomes obsolete.
RANK 36GRADE Aranked reveal
German Feind is English fiend’s undemonic cousin: both fossilize one who hates.
Duden, DWDS/Pfeifer, and Grimm independently carry Feind through Middle and Old High German to a substantivized hating participle. OED places English fiend on the collateral Old English branch. German retained the ordinary enemy or opponent at its semantic center; English turned the cognate toward Devil, demon, and vicious person.
RANK 37GRADE Aranked reveal
Swedish fiende is not built from modern hata.
SO says fiende originally meant hatande. SAOB and Hellquist make the hidden grammar explicit: the enemy noun is a lexicalized present participle of the Germanic fi(j)- verb, literally one who hates. But SAOB’s separate hata article places the modern Swedish hate verb in the hat- family. Swedish therefore carries two different Germanic hate histories side by side: one fossilized inside the everyday noun enemy, the other alive as the everyday verb hata.
RANK 38GRADE Aranked reveal
Old High German fīant was already a noun—but in fixed phrases its old participial character could still shine through.
AWB calls fîant / fîjant a strong masculine noun, then isolates fixed formulas where its old participial character can still shine through. Fîant uuesan could mean be hostile, hate someone, or wish someone ill; fîant mahhôn meant make hostile; zi fîante tuon could mean regard as an enemy or hate. Beside it, AWB records the live weak verb fîên, to hate, in eighth- and ninth-century Alemannic manuscripts. The word is therefore more revealing than a simple literal gloss: it is a lexicalized noun whose older verbal architecture remained locally visible in syntax.
RANK 39GRADE Aranked reveal
Old Norse fjándi was an enemy before it was the Devil.
Cleasby and Vigfússon identify the inherited -nd- shape as participial and gloss the older formation as properly a hater. Their first sense is the ordinary enemy; only after the introduction of Christianity does the historical account assign fjándi the fiend branch. ONP then reveals how far the word traveled: 222 citations across enemy, demon, evil spirit, pagan god, Satan, and derogatory uses for hated or bewitched beings and things. The truth is not that every enemy secretly hates. It is that a lexicalized agent noun became an ordinary social category, then accumulated new religious and expressive work.
047
BOOKS / DICTIONARIES / ARTICLES / DATABASES
SOURCES
etymological dictionary29 CLAIM LINKS
DWDS — Feind, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeifer
Wolfgang Pfeifer · DWDS editorial team / 2026
author or editorAUDIT EVERY USE ↗etymological dictionary29 CLAIM LINKS
DWDS — Hass, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeifer
Wolfgang Pfeifer · DWDS editorial team / 2026
author or editorAUDIT EVERY USE ↗etymological dictionary23 CLAIM LINKS
DWDS — Freund, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeifer
Wolfgang Pfeifer · DWDS editorial team / 2026
author or editorAUDIT EVERY USE ↗scholarly essay4 CLAIM LINKS
La universalidad del español: encuentros y contactos lingüísticos
Fernando Iwasaki / 2023
author or editorAUDIT EVERY USE ↗etymological dictionary3 CLAIM LINKS
DWDS — hassen, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeifer
Wolfgang Pfeifer · DWDS editorial team / 2026
author or editorAUDIT EVERY USE ↗lexical database2 CLAIM LINKS
Logeion: ferō / ferre
Classics Department Editors
source titleAUDIT EVERY USE ↗historical text edition2 CLAIM LINKS
Tatian: Lateinisch und altdeutsch mit ausführlichem Glossar, 2nd ed. — section 72, p. 96
Eduard Sievers (editor) / 1892
publisherAUDIT EVERY USE ↗055
FIRST USES & HISTORICAL OBJECTS
ATTESTATION WITNESSES
SOURCE REPORTEDlexicographic first use
Old High German headword horizon
fīant / Feind / eighth century, source-reported
DWDS — Feind, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeiferreporting source / OPEN RECORD ↗SOURCE REPORTEDlexicographic first use
Old High German headword horizon
haʒ / Hass / eighth century, source-reported
DWDS — Hass, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeiferreporting source / OPEN RECORD ↗SOURCE REPORTEDlexical corpus record
Rijmbijbel, Lucifer apposition
viant / vient / vijand / 1285
Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek — VIANT Iwitness excerpt / OPEN RECORD ↗SOURCE REPORTEDlexical corpus record
Max Frisch, Homo faber
hassen / hassen / 1957 literary record, source-reported
DWDS — hassen, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeiferreporting source / OPEN RECORD ↗SOURCE REPORTEDlexicographic first use
Old High German headword horizon
fīant / fīant / eighth century; source-reported
DWDS — Feind, etymology after Wolfgang Pfeiferreporting source / OPEN RECORD ↗06
SEARCH IS DISCOVERY, NOT PROOF
EVERY RESULT OPENS A PERMANENT EVIDENCE RECORD.
Matching text only locates a record. It does not raise confidence, settle a dispute, establish cognacy, or turn a source report into direct inspection. Follow the result into its citations and editorial limits.