nifl

Icelandic

Etymology

In compounds probably means “darkness”,[1] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”) whence the Proto-Germanic *nebulaz, cognates with Old High German nebul (“fog”)[1] (New High German nebel,[1] whence Nebel (“fog, mist, haze; nebula”)) and Latin nebula (“fog; cloud; vapor”).[1]

Compare njóla (“night”) (poetic).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nɪpl/
  • Rhymes: -ɪpl

Noun

nifl n (genitive singular nifls, no plural)

  1. (poetic) fog, darkness[1]

Declension

Declension of nifl (sg-only neuter)
singular
indefinite definite
nominative nifl niflið
accusative nifl niflið
dative nifli niflinu
genitive nifls niflsins

Derived terms

  • niflfarinn (“gone to hell, dead”) (poetic)
  • niflgóður (“evil”) (poetic)
  • Niflheimur (“Niflheim; the Mist Home, the "Abode of Mist", the Mist World; the domain of the dead, the Underworld”)
  • Niflhel (“the dark abode of the being Hel”) (poetic)
  • Niflungar (“Nibelung”)
  • niflungur (“a king, a head of state”) (poetic)
  • niflvegur (“a dark road”) (poetic)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. Page 667 of the Íslensk orðsifjabók (“Book of Icelandic Etymology”). Publisher: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi (“Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies”), first print November 1989 →ISBN
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.