váttr

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wahtaz (“speech”).

Older theories tentatively connected the word to vitni (“witness”), from a different root.

Noun

váttr m (genitive váttar, plural vættir)

1. a witness, eyewitness

Declension

  Declension of váttr (strong u-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	váttr	váttrinn	vættir	vættirnir
accusative	vátt	váttinn	vætti, váttu	vættina, váttuna
dative	vætti, vátt	vættinum, váttinum	váttum	váttunum
genitive	váttar	váttarins	vátta	váttanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: vottur
• Old Swedish: vātter

Further reading

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