# German "Zauber", Dutch "tover" ("magic"): Is there a cognate in English? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790 "2004-09-09T15:44:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/1 "2004-09-09T15:44:42Z")
English uses the word “magic”, which comes from the Latin word “magus”. But Dutch and German use _tover_ and _Zauber_ respectively. Those words are obviously descended from the same root, each having followed the sound changes of the early Middle Ages that separated High and Low German. But there seems to be no cognate in English. J.R.R. Tolkien, who went to such pains to use Anglo Saxon words in his writing, often used _dwimmer_ or _dwimor_ to mean sorcery or magic, but that seems to be a completely different word from _tover_. Is there a cognate to tover/Zauber in early English? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/2 "2004-09-09T16:01:34Z")
As far as I can tell, “dwimor” meant “illusion” in Anglo-Saxon. I’m still looking for a cognate of tover/Zauber. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/3 "2004-09-09T16:05:14Z")
[Here’s a start:](http://wodening.ealdriht.org/runes/magic.html) > [@](#): > > The question “Know you how to dye?” is a bit harder to explain. It appears that for a rune spell to work, not only would one have to carve the runes, but they would have to colour them as well. Often this was done with one’s own blood. In Egils Saga, when Egil carves runes into a cup to avoid poisoning, he cuts himself and then colours the runestaves with his own blood. Blood was not the only substance used to colour the runestaves, however, as other substances appear to have been used as well. Evidence of this can be seen in the Old Icelandic word _taufR_ (sic) “sorcery, charms, talismans” and the German word _Zauber_ “sorcery, magic.” **Both of these words are cognates to Old English _téafor_, which meant “red, vermilion, red ochre,”** ochre often being used to dye various materials. From all appearances both taufR and Zauber originally possessed similar meanings, but because of the practice of dyeing the runes with ochre and other red substances, the words came to denote “magic, sorcery.” [Another link](http://webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/color/reds2.html). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/4 "2004-09-09T16:10:38Z")
Here’s what Grimm says about it: [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/03401.php?PHPSESSID=ca64555a4f7e4383eb908ca8bbf4344e](http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/03401.php?PHPSESSID=ca64555a4f7e4383eb908ca8bbf4344e) Basically, that Saxon has a different, unique term for magic, “wicce”, from which Englsh gets both “witch” and “wicked”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/5 "2004-09-09T16:16:26Z")
Also … [http://www.tiverton-cheshire.org.uk/PC%20Newsletters/sept2001.htm](http://www.tiverton-cheshire.org.uk/PC%20Newsletters/sept2001.htm) > [@](#): > > **Did You Know?** > “Tiverton” is derived from the Old English word “Teafor” meaning red pigments, refering to the red soil in the area…(Oxford Dictionary) [http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/seidhr.htm](http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/seidhr.htm) > [@](#): > > The colors red and blue were considered to be especially magical, and cloth of these colors was prized for straining medicinal infusions. The Dutch word _toverij_, the German word _Zauber_, and the Old English term _teafor_ all mean “magic” and are related to the Norse word _taufr_, used for an amulet or talisman: all these terms are derived from a Germanic root meaning “red, vermillion” (Storms, 102-103). Red thread was used in medical applications, being used to bind off the umbilicus of the newborn, or to tie packets of herbs to an afflicted body part to encourage magical healing. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/6 "2004-09-09T17:31:55Z")
The responses above led me to think that perhaps “dye” was the cognate, but this isn’t borne out by the OED. > [@](#): > > [OE. had déa, déah fem., gen. déae (:OTeut. \*daugâ-), for which a ME. dehe (= deae, dee) is known in 13th c. This would give later deye, dey, also (as with DIE v. and EYE) dye, die. The word is not known thenceforth till the 16th c., when we find die: see the vb. > (The OTeut. \*daugâ- indicates an ablaut series deug-, daug-, dug-, Aryan \*dheuk-, etc., to which Kluge (Engl. Stud. XI. 511) refers also L. fcus, and fcre to dye.)] ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/7 "2004-09-09T20:21:13Z")
There is also a modern-day English cognate - [tiver](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tiver). The word seems to only be used regionally in England, though, and in the rather limited context of sheep herding. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/8 "2004-09-09T22:36:58Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > There is also a modern-day English cognate - [tiver](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tiver). The word seems to only be used regionally in England, though, and in the rather limited context of sheep herding. Come to think of it, the place name you mentioned is also a valid cognate, even though it’s a proper noun. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-zauber-dutch-tover-magic-is-there-a-cognate-in-english/263790/9 "2004-09-10T14:13:40Z")
A few more uses of the word “tiver”, from sites about runes: [http://www.geocities.com/cheryl\_rune/rune\_magic\_wand.html](http://www.geocities.com/cheryl_rune/rune_magic_wand.html) > [@](#): > > 1. After carving them, the next step is to redden the runes. Traditionally, > “Tiver” extracted from the madder plant, is used. As an interesting > side note, \*\*the word tiver means “magic,” \*\* and the color red symbolizes > magic and active energy. [http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/gods3.html#T](http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/gods3.html#T) > [@](#): > > **Tiver** - A magically prepared coloring material used to stain runes. It can be made by grinding natural red ocher or rust. It can also be made from the root of the Madder plant (Rubia tinctura).