German word for war

Bellum of course means ‘war’, but there was a word bellus that meant ‘nice’, ‘pretty’. A bellus homo was a man who was probably seen as somewhat effeminate, who had his body hair plucked and the like. The expression occurs in one of the Latin poets. Also, Martial calls one Caecilianus’ wild boar dish the latter’s ‘bellus conviva’, his ‘nice guest’.

Guerre/guerra comes ultimately from Old High German werra, ‘quarrel’.

«guerra» is a loan word from the Germanic languages, the English «war» is cognate. Similarly: ward -> guarda

«bellus» is diminutive from bonus (arch. duenos/duonos) -> *benulus -> *benlus (syncope) -> bellus (assim. nl > ll)

«bellum» (arch. duellum) x «bellus» is merely a coincidence

Duenos (with non-syllabic u), then duonos, are archaic forms of bonus, they are known from Old Latin inscriptions.

The archaic diminutive of duenos would be *duenolos, hence the hypothetical forms (with asterix) *benulus and *benlus, finally the classical form bellus, bella, bellum. Nothing in common with bellum (war), which has the archaic form duellum.

How did Latin’s «bellum», which I’ve deduced to mean «war», become «guerra» in Spanish and Italian and «guerre» in French and how did «bella» (which I’m assuming means «wars») come to mean «beautiful» in Spanish and Italian (and «belle» in French)?!

«Guerra» is from a Germanic source rather than Latin. In other words, it shares the same etymology as English war. Here is the RAE entry:

(Del germ. *werra, pelea, discordia; cf. a. al. ant. wërra, neerl. medio warre).

As for «bella», it comes from Latin bellus which had a similar meaning to the modern Romance words.

Is a cognate of «war» still used in German?
It seems that most other Germanic languages use a word that sounds like «krig» to refer to «war».

Is «war» related to Slavic «vojna»?

Perhaps bellus being related to bonus might explain why «elle est bonne» «está buena» means that a woman is attractive. And also explains why «bonita» (a diminuitive of buena / boa ) means beautiful

Perhaps bellus being related to bonus might explain why «elle est bonne» «está buena» means that a woman is attractive. And also explains why «bonita» (a diminuitive of buena / boa ) means beautiful

On the other side bellus chiefly means good in Latin.

bellum est sua vitia nosse = it’s a good thing to know one’s own faults

Is a cognate of «war» still used in German?
It seems that most other Germanic languages use a word that sounds like «krig» to refer to «war».

No, «war» in German today is «Krieg» and as far as I know it’s «oorlog» in Dutch, so there seems to be nothing left of «werra» and I can’t think of a word sounding alike in my dialect.

No, «war» in German today is «Krieg» and as far as I know it’s «oorlog» in Dutch, so there seems to be nothing left of «werra» and I can’t think of a word sounding alike in my dialect.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the following German words are derived from the same root as the reconstructed Frankish word *werra (which gave rise to the English and Romance languages words for «war»):

I had also thought that the following words might have to do with *werra as well, but apparently they came from a different root (Proto-Germanic *waraz), which gave rise to the English words wary, aware and beware.

Though the semantic (and phonetic!) similarity is interesting, scholars derive these words from a different root (*werra versus*waraz). Still, *werra is derived from a Proto-Germanic *werso, and *waraz is derived from a Proto Indo-European base *wer- meaning «to cover», so there might be some relation yet! We’d better leave such determinations up to the PhD’s, though!!

Best
mcc7x

My first time on this site, and much impressed with subject matters and the fun to be had. So interesting to see the name of the god of war Tiw that gave us Tuesday, because the word now makes sense to me as going back to the number two. And yes, I had always wondered where the word Bellum could come from, but with seeing variations shown here of the root, I can recognize the word duel which we still use today. I know that di- and bi- are both versions of number two and reading duellum (duo) into buellum into bellum is then easy.

War does not necessarily need two sides, as we know from modern times, but I guess in its original form war is that situation where two clash (and not one or three). Fun therefore to see that the god of war that gave us Tuesday has that same visualization.

The German word Krieg is close to the Dutch word krijg, and a warrior in Dutch is also krijger. The verb in Dutch, however, means to get. And I would imagine that the visualization is then similar to outcome, or something as «And the spoils go to…»

I now also see how my own native word oorlog comes from that word war or guerre, with the ‘gw’ not pronounced. Though I do not yet see the log-part. Who knows, it may be a very old version of the -ly ending we have in English and -lich in German, and originally been warly which then next became its own noun.

From Tamil the pol- beginning is fascinating, because it stimulates my mind to see polar as coming from that same origin as well, thinking about an opposite position. The word bi-polar would then using its own root in some kind of fashion twice.

It makes me curious what the word for two is in Tamil and, BelligerentPacifist, what it is in Urdu.

There is no indication that duellum and duo should be etymologically related. You shouldn’t take it for granted.

Let me start out apologizing, Bernd. I know that I have a manner of writing that is assertive, personally-rightful to a fault, and often contains words that can put people off. It is not my intention to do that, but it is tough to change and in my writing years I have improved myself, but not perfected the son of a gun. I hope you can read through my toughness of words and will regard my words as mine — not as stating the truth for everyone alive (or dead for that matter).

In my views, it is not too difficult to envision what our ancestors had in mind when deciding what words to use. But what it requires for me -to accept a correlation- is that a visualization is possible that fits in the background for at least two somewhat similarly-sounding words, and when the visualization fits in the background for similar words from several languages, then I embrace it even more. I then envision the ancestors of the words to be older than when the background visualization fits only two or a few words.

It is not that I will hold on to the correlation when other evidence shows the word are not related (bella, bellum), but I will hold on to the seemingly strong correlation when nothing else is presented. In the case of your reply, I noticed you did not bring in any argument why duel and duo were not related. You may be right, but please bring in information that shows a different background exists indeed for each word. Right now, I believe to be correct. Prove me wrong, and you have a friend forever.

Dictionnaire latin français(1934) suggests the etymology with the PIE dāu-, deu- (« destroy, burn »), from which also derives ancient Greek duē(« misery, suffering »).

Yes, thank you. I am aware of that (reproduced here). I find this equally speculative, but it demonstrates nicely that there are equally or even more plausible alternative explanations.

How did Latin’s «bellum», which I’ve deduced to mean «war», become «guerra» in Spanish and Italian and «guerre» in French and how did «bella» (which I’m assuming means «wars») come to mean «beautiful» in Spanish and Italian (and «belle» in French)?!

Let me add another two cents here (maybe my last on this forum), how it is very interesting that in French the words beau and belle mean the same thing, yet are quite distinct. One is male and the other the female version of beautiful (handsome/pretty). Since both are distinct, it may be prudent to look for a distinct difference in feel as well. I like seeking words that remain linked to the statement of war, and refering to the German word Krieg for war and the Dutch word krijger for warrior, the link there was that they refer to ‘to get’, ‘to obtain’, or in war terms: to get the spoils.

Now if we use the winner and that what is won to the words beau and belle, then the feel may be explained. In modern eyes, that may a bit sexist, but then again in French there is a distinction, too.

Further, would it be pushing the envelope to declare that the word beau is related to bon, bueno, buon, which means good, and next that this (particularly buon) is similar to the Germanic word won? While the word belle (as in bellum) is known in a context of war, it would also suggest that the one who won is the one who is the good one. Would makes sense to me to not declare the loser the good one, particularly when the winner gets to rule you.

Fredrick,

The Tamil word for Two is «IranDu»,

About the words discussed here,

Tamil word for
War = POr

but
Similar words

Spear=VEl = War could have some connection with «War»?

Won = Venru