| 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: | wei- |
| DEFINITION: | To turn, twist; with derivatives referring to suppleness or binding. Also wei - (earlier *wei1-).
Derivatives include wire, vise, and iris.
I. Form *wei-. 1a. wire, from Old English w r, wire; b. garland, from Old French garlande, wreath, from Frankish *wiara, *weara, wire. Both a and b from Germanic suffixed form *w-ra-, *w -ra-. 2. Probably suffixed Germanic form *wai-ra-. seaware, from Old English w r, seaweed. 3. Suffixed zero-grade form *wi-ri-. ferrule, from Latin viriae, bracelets (of Celtic origin). 4. Suffixed form *wei-ti-. withy, from Old English wthig, willow, withy, from Germanic *wth-, willow. 5. Suffixed zero-grade form *wi-t-. withe, from Old English withthe, supple twig, from Germanic *withj n-.
II. Form *wei-, zero-grade *w- (< *wi-). 1. Suffixed form *w-ti-. vise; viticulture, from Latin vtis, vine. 2. Suffixed form *w-t- becoming *witt-. vitta, from Latin vitta, headband. 3. Suffixed form *w-men-. Mimbres, from Latin vmen, withy, wicker. 4. Probably suffixed form *w-ri-. iridaceous, irido-, iris, Iris; iridium, iritis, from Greek ris, rainbow, and  ris, rainbow goddess. 5. Perhaps suffixed form *w-n-. inion; exine, inosine, inositol, inotropic, from Greek s, sinew. (Pokorny 1.  ei- 1120.) |
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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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