garsecg

== Old English == === Alternative forms === gārseġċ — rare === Etymology === Uncertain. Almost always analyzed as a compound of gār +‎ seċġ, but there is significant disagreement about how to interpret these elements. Gār is usually glossed as “spear”, but the sense “tempest” has been suggested, and Holthausen dubiously connected it to Old English gānian (“to gape”), Sanskrit विहायस् (vihāyas, “atmosphere”). Seċġ may be glossed several ways: The word seċġ meaning "sword" is feminine, making this etymology unlikely. “Sedge” has been suggested (e.g. by Grimm), but the sense development would be unusual. “Man; warrior” is perhaps most popular; in this case the sense would be “the ocean personified as a warrior”, but attempts to find links to spear-wielding water deities (Bosworth-Toller suggests Neptune) have not yielded definitive results. Some Latin-Old English glossaries have possible variants of seċġ glossing “sea” (e.g. the Épinal-Erfurt glossary has segg). William Redbond suggested a possible loan from a Brythonic term equivalent to modern Welsh môr (“sea”) + caseg (“mare; billow, breaker”). Dahlman suggested analysis as gārs (“world's”) +‎ eċġ (“edge”), but this cannot be correct as ecg is a feminine jō-stem. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɡɑːrˌsejj/, [ˈɡɑːrˌsed͡ʒ] === Noun === gārseċġ m ocean, sea 10th century, “Exodus” in the Junius manuscript. Transcribed and translated in 1832, Thorpe, Benjamin (ed.), Cædmon's Metrical Praphrase of Parts of the Holy Scriptures, London: Society of Antiquaries of London; page 204–205, ll. 30–33, 1–4. late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans ==== Declension ==== Strong a-stem: ==== See also ==== ēa (“ea / river”) mere (“mere / lake”) sǣ (“sea”) strēam (“stream”) === References ===