An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Eck

by Friedrich Kluge

Eck, neuter, Ecke, feminine, ‘edge, corner,’ from Middle High German ęcke, feminine (seldom neuter), ‘edge of weapons, point, corner, brim,’ Old High German ękka, feminine, ‘point, edge of a sword.’ Corresponds to Old Saxon ęggia, feminine, ‘edge, sharpness, sword,’ Anglo-Saxon ęcg, ‘corner, point, edge (of a sword, &c.), sword,’ English edg,, Old Icelandic egg, feminine, ‘point’: Gothic *agja, feminine, is not recorded. The meaning ‘point, sharp edge,’ which originally was the most prominent in the cognates (see also Egge), recalls the development in Modern High German Ort. The Teutonic root ag(ah), pre-Teutonic ak (Gothic agjô-, from Aryan akyã-), with the primary meaning ‘pointed,’ is found in very many non-Teutonic languages, since Modern High German Ähre and the non-Teutonic words cited under that word are primitively allied to it, as are also Latin acies, Greek ἀκίς, ‘point,’ both in form and meaning.