An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/nähen

by Friedrich Kluge

nähen, verb, ‘to sew, stitch,’ from the equivalent Middle High German nœjen, Old High German nâjan; corresponding only to Dutch naaijen; Gothic *naian is wanting, neither is the word found in the other Teutonic languages. The verbal stem nê contained in nähen was at one time more widely diffused in the Teutonic group, as may be inferred from the common Teutonic Nadel (nêþlô-); compare further Naht. In the non-Teutonic languages a root nê, ‘to spin,’ is found, which is usually connected with the root of nähen; compare Latin neo, Greek νέω, ‘I spin,’ νῆμα, ‘thread,’ νῆτρον, ‘spindle’; to this is allied a root snâ in Old Irish snáthe, ‘thread,’ snâthat, ‘needle’ (compare Schnur). The cognates were probably borrowed in pre-historic times by one tribe from another (compare mahlen), so that nähen may not be a genuine Teutonic word.