askr

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *askaz, whence also Old English æsc, Old High German ask.

For the semantic shift from "tree" to "container" compare Latin buxus, buxis (whence English box, boxwood).

Noun

askr m (genitive asks, plural askar)

ash (tree)
- Vǫluspá, verse 19, lines 1-4, in 1867, S. Bugge, Norrœn fornkvæði: Sæmundar Edda hins fróða. Christiania, page 4:
  Ask veit ek standa / heitir Yggdrasill / hár baðmr, ausinn / hvíta auri; […]
  I know an ash stands / named Yggdrasill / a high tree, washed / with white mud; […]
wooden vessel or dish

Declension

Declension of *askr* (strong a-stem)
masculine	singular		plural
masculine	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	askr	askrinn	askar	askarnir
accusative	ask	askinn	aska	askana
dative	aski	askinum	ǫskum	ǫskunum
genitive	asks	asksins	aska	askanna

Descendants

Icelandic: askur
Faroese: askur
Norwegian Nynorsk: ask
Old Swedish: asker, ᛆᛋᚴᚽᚱ (Runic)
- Swedish: ask
  - → Finnish: aski
Old Danish: ask
- Danish: ask
  - Norwegian Bokmål: ask
Gutnish: ask, äsk
→ Old East Slavic: а́скъ (áskŭ), ꙗ́скъ (jáskŭ)
- Old Ruthenian: ꙗ́щъ (jášč)
  - ⇒ Old Ruthenian: ꙗ́щикъ (jáščik)
    - Belarusian: я́шчык (jáščyk) (dialectal)
    - Ukrainian: я́щик (jáščyk)
- ⇒ Middle Russian: ꙗ́щїк (jáščik)
  - Russian: я́щик (jáščik)

Further reading

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