• Madison420@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Are you saying the dictionary’s etymology is wrong?

    “Answer” Is literally derived From proto Germanic andaswarō take a crack at what word that developed into. I’ll give you a hint, we’ve talked about it.

    From Middle English answere, andsware, from Old English andswaru (“answer”), from and- (“against”) +‎ -swaru (“affirmation”), (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- (“front, forehead”) and Old English swerian (“to swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer-), suggesting an original meaning of “a sworn statement rebutting a charge”. The cognates suggest the existence of Proto-Germanic *andaswarō (“a reply to a question”). Cognate with Old Frisian ondser (“answer”), Old Saxon andswōr (“answer”), Danish and Swedish ansvar (“liability, responsibility, answer”), Icelandic andsvar (“answer, response”). Compare also Old English andwyrde (“answer”) (cognate to Dutch antwoord, German Antwort), Old English andcwiss (“reply”), German Schwur (“oath, vow”).

    • Prunebutt@feddit.de
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      11 months ago

      Wow, I surely didn’t wake up today expecting some rando on the internet to copy n paste the dictionary at me.