Lemizh / English dictionary
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skrà.
to make/lay eggs
Etymology
gender change of
< NLem skrOngj‑a
< LMLem, MLem dyrkterengj‑yr ‘thimble’
< OLem dyrkter‑hengj‑, endocentric compound (tatpurusha) of
OLem dyrkter‑ ‘finger’
< PLem *darkter‑
< PIE *dr̥gʰ‑tér‑s ‘holder (?)’, non-event agent of
PIE *dregʰ‑ ‘hold (fast)’
—and—
OLem hengj‑ ‘protection, armour’
< PLem *hengj‑ ‘spines > protection, armour’
< PIE *h₁ég̑ʰi‑s ‘hedgehog’
The meaning ‘egg’ is derived from the metaphorical use of ‘thimble’ as a protection for something tender and delicate, perhaps aided by the roughly similar shapes. This is one of the stranger introductions of the Tlöngö̀l.
Cognates
Gk δράσσομαι ‘hold, seize’; Ger Igel ‘hedgehog’