An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Morgen

by Friedrich Kluge

Morgen (1.), m., ‘morning,’ from the equiv. MidHG. morgen, OHG. morgen, m.; comp. OSax. morgan, Du. morgen, AS. morgen, mergen, m., E. morning (with the suffix -ing as in evening), OIc. morgunn and myrgenn, Goth. maurgins, m.; the common Teut. term for the first half of the day, commencing with the dawn. It does not obtain, however, in the non-Teut. languages, being, like Tag and Abend (Goth. undaurns, ‘midday’), specifically Teut. The pre-Teut. mṛkeno- or mṛgheno- is still obscure; some etymologists connect it with Goth. maúrgjan, ‘to shorten,’ but this gives no definite sense for Morgen. With greater probability may OSlov. mrŭknąti, ‘to grow dark,’ mrakŭ, ‘darkness,’ be allied to the Teut. cognates, so that Morgen might be regarded as ‘dawn’; comp. the development of meaning in Dämmerung. —

morgen, in the sense of ‘to-morrow,’ is from MidHG. morgen, OHG. morgane, prop. a dat. sing., ‘in the morning, especially of the following day, (on) the next day’; similarly Fr. demain, lendemain, from Lat. mane. This use of morgen is unknown to Goth. (comp. gestern); Scand. has á morgun, E. to-morrow; MidE. tô morwe, dat., from morge(n), Du. morgen, ‘to-morrow.’ Abend is similarly used of the preceding day (see also Sonnabend). —

Morgen, ‘east,’ is similar to the meaning of Lat. mane in the Rom. languages. Comp. the origin of Osten.

Morgen (2.). m., from the equiv. MidHG. morgen, OHG. morgan, m., ‘acre’ (or nearly so); usually identified with Morgen (1), ‘morning's work for a team, the space ploughed by a team in a morning’; similarly MidLat. dies, ‘tantum terræ quantum quis per diem uno aratro arare potest.’ So too MidLat. diurnalis, ‘a square measure.’