Zahn - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-West Germanic *tanþ

Old High German zand

Middle High German zan

English Zahn

Borrowed from German Zahn.

Zahn (plural Zahns)

  1. A surname from German.

From German Zahn, from Middle High German zan, zant, from Old High German zan, zand, from Proto-West Germanic *tanþ.

The velarised form Zank, which is native in most of Ripuarian, has widely been replaced in eastern dialects; some of them have adopted the southern form Zand, others the standard German form Zahn. As can be seen below, the native plural Zäng remains intact. Compare Hand for more.

Zahn m (plural Zäng, diminutive Zähnche)

  1. (some dialects of Ripuarian) tooth

Ein Zahn

PIE word
*h₃dónts

Proto-West Germanic *tanþ

Old High German zand

Middle High German zan

German Zahn

From Middle High German zan, zant, from Old High German zan, zand, from Proto-West Germanic *tanþ, from Proto-Germanic *tanþs.

The Old High German nominative zan alongside zand is not quite clear, but may go back to an inherited variation that was levelled in the other old languages. The stems zan- and zand- were then used indiscriminately in Middle High German. The success of the form without -d may have been reinforced by the widespread dialectal development: intervocalic -nd--nn-, which produced d-less inflected forms even in dialects that used zand-. Cognates include Dutch and Danish tand, Low German Tähn, English tooth. See the latter for more.

Zahn m (strong, genitive Zahnes or Zahns, plural Zähne, diminutive Zähnchen n or Zähnlein n)

  1. tooth
  2. fang
  3. tusk
  4. cog, tine