An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Hirse
Hirse, feminine (older Modern High German and even yet Middle German, Suabian Hirsche), ‘millet,’ from the equivalent Middle High German hirse, hirs, Old High German hirsi, hirso, masculine; originally a High German word merely, which, however, in modern times has spread to the north (English and Danish hirse, Swedish hirs). Allied to Latin cirrus, ‘a tuft (of hair, &c.)’?.