THE 'GENOSSENSCHAFT' 429 



and gat notion of primitive Aryan life again repeated, if it be in a 

 less definite form. 



B. The ' Genossenschaft.' 



The root of the word here is one of the most interesting in 

 the whole range of specially Teutonic developments. The sense of 

 the word is to be found in genieszen, to enjoy, but with the under- 

 lying and antique sense of enjoying in common. Hildebrand, in 

 Grimms' Worterbuch?- takes the original sense to have been acquiring 

 in common by the hunt or by war, and the later to be that of 

 common enjoyment. He bases his interpretation on the use of the 

 strengthened forms Anglo - Saxon beneotan for rob, and Gothic 

 ganiutan in the sense of capture. I venture to think this notion is 

 rather a development of the original sense of the word, especially 

 among warlike Teutonic stems, the chief occupation of whom was 

 the acquirement of booty in common. O.H.G. niozan is uti, frui, usu 

 capere, capere cibum ; ganiuzan is consumere, but the idea of rob does 

 not occur. Accordingly the uses of the Gothic ganiutan in the 

 sense of take fish (Luke v. 9), and catch (Mark xii. 13), besides 

 nuta for fisherman, seem to me quite easy derivative notions. 

 The Gothic niutan, A.S. niotan, 0. Fries, nieta, O.N. niota, all 

 retain the simple notion of use, enjoy, without that of rob. 

 Lithuanian panusti is lust after, and nauda profit. The ultimate 

 root appears to be nu, or with a guttural nu-d- (possibly Sanskrit 

 nand, enjoy, rejoice may be connected). The sense is to use, to 

 profit by, to enjoy, arid therefore, in early times, with special applica- 

 tion to food and sex. But I have already traced the community 

 of primitive society in bed and board. Hence the fundamental 

 application of the root is to what is enjoyed in common. The use 

 notion is very widespread. In Scandinavian we have nautna, neyta, 

 nyde, to enjoy, to eat, njota nytte, to use, eat, benytte, and the nouns 

 denoting help, utility, corresponding to Danish nytte, O.N. nyt. In 

 German we have all the notions of use, enjoyment in niltzen and 

 nutze ; 2 English dialect gives us nate, etc. In Landsmaal naut, in 



1 See under genieszen and genosz. I have freely used Hildebrand's citations. 



2 0. H. G. nutz has the sense of profit, produce of the land ; Friesian not is 

 the word for agricultural produce of all sorts, O.N". nyt is specially used of dairy 

 products, in other words, we are carried back to the most primitive sense of the 

 useful or profitable as food. A cognate series is O.H.G. niot, O.F. mod, A.S. 



