An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Marder

by Friedrich Kluge

Marder, masculine, ‘marten,’ from the equivalent Middle High German marder (and mader), masculine, Old High German mardar, masculine; allied to Old Icelandic mǫrðr, ‘marten,’ and Anglo-Saxon mearþ (also meard), ‘marten, weasel’ (without the suffix r, like Middle High German mart, ‘marten’). Whether we are to assume Gothic *marþus or *marþuza remains uncertain. Yet the cognates are probably of genuine Teutonic origin (from pre-Teutonic martu-), to which Middle Latin martus (Italian martes), with the corresponding Romance class also point — Italian martora, French martre, feminine (whence English marten).