An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/missen

by Friedrich Kluge

missen, verb, ‘to be without, do without,’ from Middle High German and Old High German missen, ‘to miss’; compare Anglo-Saxon missan, English to miss, and the equivalent Old Icelandic missa; Gothic *missjan is wanting. It is clearly connected with West Teutonic mîþan, ‘to avoid,’ which is related to an old participle missa- (for *miþta- with -tó-), meaning ‘avoided, frustrated’; compare meiden and miß.