| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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Appendix I
Indo-European Roots |
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| ENTRY: | gher-1 |
| DEFINITION: | To grasp, enclose; with derivatives meaning “enclosure.” Oldest form * her-, becoming *gher- in centum languages.
Derivatives include orchard, kindergarten, courteous, choir, and choral.
1. Suffixed zero-grade form *gh -dh-. a. gird1, girt1, from Old English gyrdan, to gird, from Germanic *gurdjan; b. girdle, from Old English gyrdel, girdle; c. girth, from Old Norse gjördh, girdle, girth. 2. Suffixed o-grade form *ghor-to- or (in Germanic) *ghor-dho-, an enclosure. a. (i) yard2; orchard, from Old English geard, enclosure, garden, yard; (ii) garth; Asgard, from Old Norse gardhr, enclosure, garden, yard; (iii) kindergarten, from Old High German garto, garden; (iv) garden, jardinière, from Old North French gart, garden; (v) hangar, from Old French hangard, shelter, possibly from Germanic *haimgardaz (*haimaz, home; see tkei-); vi Germanic compound *midja-gardaz (see medhyo-). (i)–(vi) all from Germanic *gardaz; b. horticulture, ortolan, from Latin hortus, garden. 3. Prefixed and suffixed zero-grade form *ko(m)-gh-ti- (*ko(m)-, collective prefix, “together”; see kom). cohort, cortege, court, courteous, courtesan, courtesy, courtier, curtilage, curtsy, from Latin cohors (stem cohort-), enclosed yard, company of soldiers, multitude. 4. Perhaps suffixed o-grade form *ghor-o-. carol, choir, choral, chorale, choric, chorister, chorus, hora; choragus, Terpsichore, from Greek khoros, dancing ground (? perhaps originally a special enclosure for dancing), dance, dramatic chorus. (Pokorny 4. her- 442, herdh- 444.) |
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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