Where does “Nibelungenlied” come from?

Nibelungenlied (German) comes from Italian Nibelung, from Middle High German nebel, from Romansch nibel, from Spanish nivel, from Old French nivel, from Vulgar Latin libellus, from Latin lībella, from Latin lībra — to join, to yoke, to tie together.

Nibelungenlied (German): A tragic epic poem, written in Middle High German, partially set in the land of the Nibelungs

Definitions

  1. A tragic epic poem, written in Middle High German, partially set in the land of the Nibelungs

Ancestry of “Nibelungenlied”, step by step

Nibelungenlied traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Italian Nibelung

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1ItalianNibelung
2Middle High Germannebelfog
3Romanschnibelcloud
4Spanishnivellevel, tier, height; level, standard; level
5Old Frenchnivel
6Vulgar Latinlibellusa little book, booklet, pamphlet; a billet,...
7LatinlībellaAn as (the tenth part of a denarius)
8Latinlībra
9Ancient Greekζυγόνyoke, for joining animals; yoke, burden; in...
10Proto-Hellenicdzugónyoke
11Proto-Indo-Europeanyugómyoke
12Proto-Indo-Europeanyewg-to join, to yoke, to tie together

via German lied

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanliedsong musical composition sung with vocals or vocal lyrics
2German-erForms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to...
3Old High German-āriused to form agent nouns
4Proto-West Germanic-ārī-er
5Proto-Germanic-ārijaz-er
6Latin-āriuser
7Proto-Italic*-āziosForms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals)
Every word from Proto-Indo-European yewg-