Teaser

Odin, Wednesday, Vatican

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• Proto-Indo-European *weh₂t- excited, inspired, possessed, raging

  • Proto-Indo-European *wéh₂tos

    • Germanic *wōdaz

      • East Germanic

        • Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐌳𐍃 wōds possessed (as by a demon)
      • North Germanic

        • Old Norse óðr mad, furious, inspired

          • Old Norse Óðr Divinity name: husband of Freja ^[1]
          • Icelandic óður furious, frantic, crazy
      • West Germanic

        • Old English wōd insane, rabid

          • English wode
        • Frankish *wōd

          • Dutch woede anger, wrath, outrage, frenzy
        • Old High German wuot

          • German Wut rage, fury, outrage, ecstasy, freny

            • German Tollwut rabies
      • Germanic *Wōdanaz Divinity name: Odin

        • North Germanic

          • Proto-Norse ᚹᛟᛞᛁᚾᛦ wodinz

            • Old Norse Óðinn

              • Danish Oden
              • Icelandic Óðinn
              • English Odin
              • Literary Chinese 奧丁 ^[2]

                • Mandarin 奧丁 Àodīng
                • Cantonese 奧丁 Ou³ Ding¹
              • Old Norse óðinsdagr Odin's Day, Wednesday calque of West Germanic *Wōdanas dag

                • Danish onsdag Wednesday
        • West Germanic

          • Old English Wōden
          • Frankish *Wuodan

            • Dutch Woen
          • Old High German Wōtan

            • German Wotan
            • Medieval Latin Vōdanus
          • West Germanic *Wōdanas dag Odin's Day, Wednesday calque of Latin dīes Mercuriī

            • Old English wōdnesdæġ Wednesday

              • Middle English Wodnesdai Wednesday
            • Old English *wēdnesdæġ Wednesday ^[3]

              • Middle English Wednesdei Wednesday ^[3]

                • English Wednesday ^[3]

                  • Māori Wenerei Wednesday
            • Frankish *wuodenesdag

              • Dutch woensdag Wednesday

                • Dutch Woen
            • Old Norse óðinsdagr Odin's Day, Wednesday calque of West Germanic *Wōdanas dag

              • Danish onsdag Wednesday
    • Indo-Iranian *wáHtas

      • Indo-Aryan

        • Sanskrit 𑀯𑀸𑀢 vā́ta injured, assailed ^[4]
  • Proto-Indo-European *weh₂tis seer, prophet noun

    • Celtic *wātis

      • Gaulish *uatis seer, prophet

        • Classical Greek οὐάτεις owáteis Gaulish prophet
        • Latin vātēs seer, prophet, poet, oracle or borrowed from Gaulish

          • Latin vāticinor I prophecy, I foretell, I sing, I rave compound with "canō": "I sing"

            • Latin Vāticānus Place name: Hill of Prophets?

              • English Vatican
      • Old Irish fáith seer, prophet

        • Irish fáidh seer, prophet, sage
        • Old Irish fáithsine prophecy

          • Irish fáistine prophecy, divination with metathesis
  • Proto-Indo-European *woh₂tos

    • Old Armenian գութ gutʿ prayer, entreaty, compassion, pity

      • Armenian գութ gutʿ pity, compassion
    • Germanic *wōþaz

      • North Germanic

        • Old Norse óðr inspiration, poetry, mind, soul

          • Icelandic óður ode
  • Proto-Indo-European *wéh₂tus

    • Celtic *wātus

      • Brythonic

        • Welsh gwawd poem, ode, eulogy, satire, mockery
  • Proto-Indo-European *wéh₂teh₂

    • Germanic *wōþō

      • West Germanic

        • Old English wōþ song, poetry, voice, speech

Visual

Collected English words

wode, Odin, Wednesday, Vatican

Footnotes

1. ^

   Okay so first, Freyja isn't attested outside of North Germanic and her name isn't really a name just a title; while Frigg is clearly part of Common Germanic theology. And then second, it's not Frigg—Odin's wife and queen—who gets the other half of the worthy dead, it's Freyja.

   And then not only is Odin's wife Frigg, but Freyja's husband is Odr? I mean, come on.

2. ^

   The Chinese translation of "Odin"—奧丁—is amazing!

   • It's a close phonetic match: Pinyin: Àodīng, Jyutping: Ou³ Ding¹
   • But also, it translates as "Esoteric Man". Or possibly, with second round simplification, "Gaze upon the Esoteric"
3. ^

   English Wednesday is not the reflex of the usual Old English wōdnesdæġ, but from an unattested variant *wēdnesdæġ. Both variants appear in Middle English: Wednesdai and Wodnesdei, but only wednesday survives to Modern English.

4. ^

   Sanskrit 𑀯𑀸𑀢 vā́ta: "attacked, injured" is thought to derive from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂t-, but it's worth comparing it to Old Norse váði: "danger, peril, harm", which is thought to be from *weyk-: "to overcome".