An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Ähren

by Friedrich Kluge

Ähren, masculine, ‘vestibule’ (dialectic), from Middle High German ęrn, masculine, ‘floor, threshing-floor,’ also ‘ground, bottom,’ Old High German ęrin, masculine (Gothic *arins), to which Old Icelandic arenn, masculine, ‘hearth,’ corresponds. Further, Old High German ëro, Old Icelandic jǫrve, ‘earth,’ as well as Latin area, ‘courtyard, threshing-floor,’ Latin arvum, ‘plain, cornfield,’ and Greek ἔραζε, ‘to the ground,’ may be cognate.