An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/neigen

by Friedrich Kluge

neigen, verb, ‘to tilt, bend, incline,’ from Middle High German nîgen, strong verb, ‘to bow,’ and neigen, weak verb, ‘to cause to bow, humiliate, lower’; Old High German nîgan, from hnîgan, strong verb, ‘to bow,’ and neigen, weak verb, ‘to incline, bend.’ It corresponds to Old Saxon hnîgan, hnêgian, Anglo-Saxon hnîgan, hnœ̂gan, Gothic hneiwan, verb, ‘to bow, sink,’ hnaiwjan, verb, ‘to humiliate, bend’ (for *hneigwan, *hnaigwjan); the weak verb is the causative of the strong verb. The Teutonic root hnîgw, from pre-Teutonic knī̆gh (or rather knī̆q?), is uncertain in the other Aryan languages. Perhaps Latin co-nîveo, nîco, nicto, ‘to wink, nod,’ are connected with the Teutonic cognates.