amechtig

== Dutch == === Etymology === From Middle Dutch amechtich, amachtich, perhaps from *amacht (“powerlessness”) +‎ -ich; compare Old High German āmahtīg (German ohnmächtig, with altered prefix). The presence of umlauted -e- in this word is due to Low German influence; in Dutch the -cht would otherwise have prevented umlaut (as in machtig). The sense "short of breath" arose due to conflation of the privative West-Germanic prefix a- (seemingly unrelated to the Indo-European alpha privative) with the contracted form aâm of the word adem (“breath”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /aːˈmɛx.təx/ Rhymes: -ɛxtəx Hyphenation: amech‧tig === Adjective === amechtig (comparative amechtiger, superlative amechtigst) (archaic) powerless short of breath, panting, short-winded (figurative) forced, frantic ==== Declension ==== === Adverb === amechtig in a forced, frantic way === References === van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “amechtig”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute