úmagi

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• ómagi

Etymology

From ú- (“un-”) +‎ magi. The last part is from Proto-Germanic *maganą (“to be able to”); and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-.

Noun

úmagi m (genitive úmaga)

1. a helpless one, one incapable of self-maintenance (including children, aged people, men disabled by sickness, paupers…)

Declension

Declension of úmagi (weak an-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	úmagi	úmaginn	úmagar	úmagarnir
accusative	úmaga	úmagann	úmaga	úmagana
dative	úmaga	úmaganum	úmǫgum	úmǫgunum
genitive	úmaga	úmagans	úmaga	úmaganna

Derived terms

• úmagaaldr m (“minority, nonage, childhood”)
• úmagaeyrir m (“the money or property of a minor”)
• úmagaframfœrsla f (“maintenance of paupers”)
• úmagalauss (“having no "úmaga" to sustain”)
• úmagamaðr (“a person with many "úmaga" to sustain”)

Related terms

• mega
• megin

Descendants

• Norwegian Nynorsk: umage

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “úmagi”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 459; also available at the Internet Archive