Etymology Dictionary

ICE,  any frozen fluid, esp. water.  (E.)   M. E. ys, iis; spelt ijs ( = iis), P. Ploughman's Crede, 436; yse (dat. case), Rob. of Glouc. p. 463, l. 4.—A. S. ís, ice; Grein, ii. 147. + Du. ijs. + Icel. íss. + Dan. iis. + Swed. is. + G. eis; O. H. G. ís.   β. Apparently from a ✔IS, to glide, go swiftly; cf. Skt. ísh, to go, hasten, fly; Icel. eisa, to go swiftly, as in ganga eisandi, to go dashing through the waves, said of a ship.   See Fick. i. 29, 30; iii. 31, 32.   See Iron.   Der. ice-berg, quite a modern word, not in Todd's Johnson, in which the latter element is the Du. and Swed. berg, Dan. bierg, G. berg, a mountain, hill; whence Du. ijsberg, Swed. isberg, Dan. iisbierg, G. eisberg, an iceberg.   [It is not at all clear in which of these languages iceberg first arose; it does not seem to be an old word in Danish or Swedish, yet it is probable that we borrowed it (together with ice-blink) from one of these languages.   It is certainly a sailor's word.]   Also ice-blink, from Dan. iisblink, Swed. isblink, a field of ice extending into the interior of Greenland; so named from its shining appearance; from Dan. blinke, to gleam; see Blink.   Also ice-boat, ice-bound, ice-cream (abbreviated from iced-cream), ice-field, ice-float, ice-floe, ice-house, ice-island, Ice-land, ice-man, ice-pack, ice-plant.   Also ice, vb., ic-ing.   Also ic-y = A. S. ísig; Grein, ii. 147; ic-i-ly, ic-i-ness.   And see Icicle.