An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Lunte

by Friedrich Kluge

Lunte, feminine, ‘lunt, match,’ Modern High German only; corresponding to Dutch lonte, English lunt, Danish lunte. In earlier Modern High German and in modern dialects it signifies ‘wick of a lamp’ (properly ‘tow’?), allied to Middle High German lünden, ‘to burn’ (Old High German lunda, ‘tallow’?). Further cognates are uncertain. — Lunte, ‘brush of a fox,’ is a figurative sense of Lunte, ‘lunt’ (i.e., from its fiery colour).