An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Haß

by Friedrich Kluge

Haß, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German haȥ, (genitive haȥȥes), masculine, ‘hatred’; in Old High German the older neuter gender occurs once (compare Gothic hatis, neuter, Scandinavian hatr, neuter); Anglo-Saxon hęte (English hate) and Old Saxon hęti are also masculine; the common Teutonic term for ‘hate,’ pointing to pre-Teutonic kodos, kodesos (Latin *codus, *coderis), neuter Modern High German Hader, and Greek κότος, may also be allied, since an Aryan root kō̆t, kō̆d, is possible. The original sense of Haß is indicated by Haß and heßen, as well as the weak verb hassen, from Middle High German haȥȥen, Old High German haȥȥęn, haȥȥôn, which in Old High German also means ‘to pursue’ (Old Saxon hatôn, ‘to waylay’). Haft too seems allied; hence the primary meaning of Haß is probably ‘hostile, hasty pursuit.’ —