An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Angel

by Friedrich Kluge

Angel, m. and f., from the equiv. MidHG. angel, m., f., ‘sting, fish-hook, hinge of a door,’ OHG. angul, m.. ‘sting, point, fish-hook’; diminut. of OHG. ango, ‘sting, door hinge,’ MidHG. ange, ‘fish-hook, door hinge.’ Comp. AS. ongel, E. angle, AS. onga, ‘sting,’ OIc. ǫngull ‘fish-hook,’ allied to ange, ‘sting, point’ (Alem. angel, ‘bee sting,’ angelmuck, ‘stinging fly’). The supposition that the primit. and widely diffused cognates are borrowed from Lat. angulus, ‘angle, corner,’ is untenable; OBulg. ąglŭ, E. angle, AS. angul, ‘angle, corner,’ are, however, primit. allied to it; so too England, Angelsachsen. The root idea of the Teut. cognates is ‘pointed.’ An Aryan root onk, ‘to be pointed,’ also lies at the base of Lat. uncus, Gr. ὄγκος, ὄγκινος, ‘barb,’ ἄγκιστρον, ‘fish-hook,’ Sans. aṅka, ‘hook,’ Osset. ängur, ‘hook, hinge,’ OIr. écad, hook.’