An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Kastanie

by Friedrich Kluge

Kastanie, feminine, ‘chestnut’; compare Old High German chęstinna, Middle High German kę́stene, kę́sten, kastânie. The latter is evidently a return to the original form, Latin castanea, which had already been transformed to kęstenne (compare Upper German Kešte). Moreover, Old High German chęstinna and Anglo-Saxon čisten (čistenbeám, Middle High German kestenboum, English chestnut) point to a Latin *castinia, *castinja. Compare French châtaigne, Italian castagna, ‘chestnut.’ The Latin word is derived from the equivalent Greek καστανέα, -νεια, -νειον, -νον; the chestnut was named from the town of Κάστανα, in Pontus.