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Origin and history of Danish

Danish(adj.)

"of or pertaining to Denmark or the Danes," 14c., replacing Old English Denisc "people of Denmark" (also including the Norse), with vowel change as in Dane (q.v.). As a noun, "the language of the Danes," from early 15c. Danish pastry is by 1934; shortened form danish is by 1963. It seems to have been invented in Vienna, but for some reason it was associated with Scandinavia. The Danes correctly call it Wienerbrod "Viennese bread." In reference to furniture styles, Danish modern is by 1939.

also from 14c.

Entries linking to Danish

Dane(n.)

"native or inhabitant of Denmark," early 14c. (in plural, Danes), from Danish Daner, (Medieval Latin Dani), which is perhaps ultimately from a source related to Old High German tanar "sand bank," in reference to their homeland, or from Proto-Germanic *den- "low ground," for the same reason.

It replaced Old English Dene (plural), which was used of Northmen generally. Shakespeare has Dansker "a Dane" (c. 1600). Dane was applied by 1774 to a breed of large dogs.

Danegeld (attested from 1086; it was first imposed in 991) supposedly originally was a tax to pay for protection from the Northmen (either to outfit defensive armies or to buy peace), continued under later kings for other purposes. Danelaw (c. 1050) was "the body of Danish law in force over that large part of England under Viking rule after Alfred's treaty in 878;" the application to the land itself is modern (1837, Danelagh).

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    cling
    congeal, shrivel" (strong verb, past tense clang, past participle clungen), from Proto-Germanic *klingg- (source also of Danish...klynge "to cluster;" Old High German klinga "narrow gorge;" Old Norse klengjask "press onward;" Danish klinke, Dutch klinken...
    bank
    "natural earthen incline bordering a body of water," c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse *banki, Old Danish...nasalized form likely is a variant of Old Norse bakki "(river) bank, ridge, mound; cloud bank," cognate with Swedish backe, Danish...
    earl
    In Anglo-Saxon poetry, "a warrior, a brave man;" in later Old English, "nobleman," especially a Danish under-king (equivalent...of cognate Old Norse jarl), then one of the viceroys under the Danish dynasty in England....
    tale
    narrative, fable, accusation, action of telling," from Proto-Germanic *talō (source also of Dutch taal "speech, language," Danish...probably was the primary one in Germanic; see tell (v.), teller and Old Frisian tale, Middle Dutch tal, Old Saxon tala, Danish...
    kitchen
    cycene "kitchen," from Proto-Germanic *kokina (source also of Middle Dutch cökene, Old High German chuhhina, German Küche, Danish...Kitchen midden (1863) in archaeology translates Danish kjøkken mødding....
    withy
    Old English wiðig "willow, willow twig," from Proto-Germanic *with- "willow" (source also of Old Norse viðir, Danish vidje...
    lisp
    "lisping," which is probably imitative (compare Middle Dutch, Old High German lispen, Danish læspe, Swedish läspa)....
    Scandinavian
    1784; see Scandinavia + -ian. As a noun, from 1766 of the languages, 1830 of the people; by 1959 in reference to styles of furniture and decor. In U.S. colloquial use sometimes Scandihoovian, Scandiwegan, etc. (OED dates both of those to 1929, used in sea slang, "generally in mil
    Norse
    1590s, "a Norwegian," from obsolete Dutch Noorsch (adj.) "Norwegian," a reduced form of noordsch "northern, nordic," from noord "north" (see north). Also in some cases borrowed from cognate Danish or Norwegian norsk. As a language of the north (spoken and written in Norway, Icela
    Nordic
    "of or pertaining to the Scandinavian people or their languages or physical type," 1898, from French nordique (in anthropologist Joseph Deniker's system of race classifications), literally "of or pertaining to the north," from nord "north" (a loan-word from Old English; see north

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