Old High German

And that seems to be Kafka's intention, as the German word he uses for Gregor's new form, "Ungeziefer," suggests a bug, a vermin and, in Old High German, an unclean animal unfit for sacrifice.

Scandinavians, Germans, Celts, and Romans have preserved a common name for the ocean—the Old Norse mar, the Old High German mari, the Latin mare.

The etymology of this last name has been much disputed, but there seems now to be little doubt that it is derived from the Old High German chara, meaning suffering or mourning.

The present survey is consequently divided into six main sections: I. The Old High German Period, including the literature of the Old Saxon dialect, from the earliest times to the middle of the 11th century.

On the other hand, in the Old High German, the Icelandic, and some of the Low German dialects, the word occurs as it does in English.