An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Bild

by Friedrich Kluge

Bild, neuter, ‘image, portrait, representation,’ from Middle High German bilde, Old High German bilidi, neuter, ‘image, figure, parable, prototype'; similarly Old Saxon bilithi; there is no corresponding word in English or Gothic (*biliþi). The derivation from a stem bil-, with which Beil has been absurdly connected, is untenable; bi- is probably the preposition be- (compare bieder, Bifang, Binse); *liþi is allied to liþu-, ‘limb’ (see Glied); the compound signifies literally ‘a copy of a limb, counterfeit limb’?. It is impossible to connect it with English build, which belongs rather to Anglo-Saxon bold, ‘a building,’ and bauen.