An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Anke

by Friedrich Kluge

Anke, m. ‘butter,’ an Alem. word, from MidHG. anke, OHG. ancho, ‘butter’; the genuine G. term for the borrowed word Butter, for which, in the OHG. period, anc-smëro or chuo-smëro, lit. ‘cow-fat’ (see Schmeer), might also be used. Goth. *agqa for OHG. ancho is not recorded. It is certainly allied primitively to the Ind. root añj, ‘to anoint, besmear,’ and to Lat. unguo, ‘to anoint’; comp. Sans. âjya ‘butter-offering,’ OIr. imb (from imben-), ‘butter.’