To the esteemed Dr. Whom, philologist extraordinaire, greetings! Thank you for the OED ref. I understood that access to that resource was costly so I did not search it out myself. This is the first word for which I am aware of an Icelandic origin! Ken On Feb 4, 2004, at 4:44 PM, Mark A Mandel wrote: > On Wed, 4 Feb 2004, Kenneth Gorelick wrote: > > #I started to wonder if you were basking in the glow of satisfaction > #from your excellent deduction, and wondered whether "bask" was to > #"Basque" as "gyp" is to "Gypsy". Any takers? > > To make the mistake of taking you seriously: > > It isn't. OED OnLine (using "<dh>" for the Icelandic letter edh) says: > > app[arently] for earlier *bathask, after ON. ba<dh>ask, in later Icel. > ba<dh>ast to bathe oneself, refl. of ba<dh>a to bathe. (With loss of > "th": cf. "or" from other, sou'west, etc.) > > (obsolete) 1. intr. (also refl., and with pa. pple. quasi-trans.) To > bathe, especially in warm water or liquid, and so transf. to be > suffused > with, or swim in, blood, etc. Obs. > > 2. trans. To expose to a flood of warmth, to suffuse with genial > warmth. (Cf. to bathe in sunshine.) Chiefly refl.; = 3. > > 3. intr. To expose oneself to, or disport oneself in, an ambient > flood of genial warmth, as in the sunshine, the rays of a fire; to lie > enjoying the heat which radiates upon one. > > > -- Dr. Whom, Consulting Linguist, Grammarian, Orthoepist, and > Philological Busybody > a.k.a. Mark A. Mandel >