Wanderwort

noun

Etymology: Unadapted borrowing from German Wanderwort, from wandern (“to wander”) + Wort (“word”). Wandern is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, to wind”), and Wort from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”). The plural forms Wanderworte and Wanderwörter are also borrowed from German Wanderworte and Wanderwörter.

1. A loanword that has spread to many different languages, often through trade or the adoption of foreign cultural practices.

   “Mrs. [Agnes Smith] Lewis has correctly observed that many corrections in the old papyri (things which no doubt the διορωτής corrected) were misinterpreted by the ancients (hence what [Adalbert] Merx calls "Wanderwörte").”

   “Hittite t/dapar- "leiten, verwalten, regieren" (and also with the Glossenkeil) is connected and we are in the presence of a Wanderwort that ultimately derives from the above Capp[adocian] *labar- "herrschen".”