ørefik.

Adapted borrowing of Middle Low German ōrvige. The borrowed word was remodelled in Norwegian through association with øre (“ear”) and fike (“to slap”), and should therefore not be analysed as an originally native compound of øre + fik. The first element of the Middle Low German source denotes an ear and is ultimately related to *ausô (“ear”), from *h₂ṓws (“ear”), itself derived from *h₂ew- (“to perceive”). The origin of the second element is uncertain. It has traditionally been connected with Dutch veeg (“stroke, blow”), as in oorveeg (“slap on the ear”), and with fegen (“to sweep”); the forms represented by Dutch -vijg and German -feige may reflect an old alteration or folk-etymological reshaping. In Norwegian, the element was associated with fike, while the shorter noun fik (“slap”) was subsequently formed from ørefik. Compare Norwegian Nynorsk øyrefik, Danish ørefigen, Swedish örfil, Dutch oorvijg and German Ohrfeige (“slap”).