köken: From a merger of Middle High German bürde and bürden, respectively from Old High German burdī and burdin, from Proto-West Germanic *burþī and *burþini, which last is also the source of English burden. The two forms were bound to merge because all Middle High German feminines in -en yield modern German -e (cf. Kette etc. and see Lüge for a similar merger).
whip, lash, scourge (multi-tailed whip, especially when used by flagellants for mortification of the sinful flesh) · lash (stroke with a whip) · spanking, licking, thrashing (severe beating)
köken: From Middle Dutch gêssle, gêsele. The atypical -s-, rather than -z-, points at Old Dutch *gēsl(a), where the -s- was directly followed by the -l-, instead of by a vowel, blocking the s → z sound change, from Proto-Germanic *gaisilaz, from *gaizaz (“spear”) + *-ilaz (suffix deriving names of tools). The loss of the middle syllable was a common change among the Germanic languages, and can also be…
a scourge (whip) · a scourge (source of persistent trouble)
çekim: çoğul gissels · tamlayan gissels
eş: plåga, piska, spö, stav
köken: Old Swedish gisl and the older gesl, having feminine gender. Used in the 1541 Bible translation with the plural gisslar. Corresponding to Old Norse geisli, related to Old Norse geirr (“spear”), Old English ger (“spear”) and English gear. Cognates include Icelandic geisli, German Geißel, Dutch gesel.
köken: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₂-? Proto-Indo-European *-rós Latin flagrum Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lum Latin flagellum From flagrum (“scourge, whip”) + -lum.