einir

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaiːjnɪɹ/
• Rhymes: -aiːjnɪɹ

Article

einir m

1. masculine nominative plural of ein

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeiːnɪr/
• Rhymes: -eiːnɪr

Etymology 1

From Old Norse einir, ultimately from Latin jūniperus. Cognate with Faroese eini(ber), Danish ene, Swedish en, Norwegian eine.

Noun

einir m (genitive singular einis, no plural)

1. juniper (Juniperus communis)

Declension

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	einir	einirinn
accusative	eini	eininn
dative	eini	eininum
genitive	einis	einisins

Declension of einir (sg-only masculine)

Derived terms

• einiber

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Numeral

einir

1. nominative masculine plural of einn (“one”)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

einir

1. nominative masculine plural of einn (“alone”)

Old Norse

Etymology

Disputed:

• Traditionally, and according to most sources, inherited from Proto-Germanic *ainijaz^[1] or *jainijaz,^[2] perhaps further from a Proto-Indo-European acrostatic n-stem noun *h₁óy-n- ~ *h₁éy-n-s (via collective(?) thematic derivative *h₁oy-n-yo-). Classical Latin iūniperus and (barely identified) Hittite 𒂊𒅀𒀭 (e-i̯a-an /⁠ei̯an-⁠/, “(a kind of) evergreen tree (yew?)”) are often compared, though assigning Proto-Indo-European precursors is difficult and may rather give way to substrate origin.
• Given the asynchronisms of the above, alternatively the Old Norse was borrowed from Vulgar Latin, via a form *jēniperus whence attested ziniperus (perhaps specifically a Western Romance form like *jēniberus, with /b/ for /p/), reinterpreted as a compound with ber (“berry”) for the juniper berry.^[3] In this case, the apparent West Germanic cognates, limited to Middle Low German *eyni (known from various derivatives) and Middle High German *eine (modern German Einbeer-baum), are simply borrowings from Old Norse or one of its descendants.

Noun

einir m (genitive einis)

1. juniper

Declension

Declension of einir (strong ija-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	einir	einirinn	einar	einarnir
accusative	eini	eininn	eina	einana
dative	eini	eininum	einum	einunum
genitive	einis	einisins	eina	einanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: einir
• Faroese: eini
• Norwegian Nynorsk: eine, einer
• Norwegian Bokmål: einer
• Elfdalian: ien, iene
• Old Swedish: ēn, ēne
  • Swedish: en, ene
• Danish: ene, ener
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ener
• →⇒? Middle Low German: eynholz, eynholcz, eynberen holt, eynberenboem, einbeeren struke, enekenbehren, eynikenstrucke
  • German Low German: Ênbêrnstrûk, Eenberen, Ehmkenstruk, Eenkenstruk, Euwerbush (Mecklenburg, Pommern, Rügen as of late 19th c.)

References

1. Guus Kroonen (2013) “*ainja-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 12
2. Vladimir Orel (2003) “*jainjaz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 205
3. This was already understood by Karl Schiller and August Lübben in their 1875 Middle Low German dictionary page 639.

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “einir”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 107; also available at the Internet Archive