An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Gauch

by Friedrich Kluge

Gauch, masculine, ‘simpleton, gawk, crow, owl, cuckoo’ (as stupid birds), from Middle High German gouch, masculine, ‘dolt, fool, simpleton,’ properly ‘cuckoo,’ Old High German gouh, ‘cuckoo'; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon geác, Old Icelandic gaukr (whence Scotch gowk), ‘cuckoo.’ Is k a suffix as in Anglo-Saxon hafoc, ‘hawk,’ and Gothic ahaks, ‘pigeon’? Old High German gouh, Gothic *gauks, cannot, however, be allied to Latin cuculus, Sanscrit kôkila-s, ‘cuckoo,’ since Teutonic g initially cannot represent Latin and Sanscrit k. Further Gauch is the Old Teutonic word for the later term Kuckuck.