An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Oxhoft

by Friedrich Kluge

Oxhoft, neuter, ‘hogshead,’ Middle High German only, from the equivalent Low German and Dutch okshoofd, neuter, to which Swedish oxhufoud and Danish oxehoved are allied; the origin of the word cannot be ascertained. The sounds point rather to a Scandinavian dialectic than to Low German and Dutch, because in the latter os signifies ‘ox.’ It is not certain whether the primary meaning is ‘head of an ox,’ though it was thus popularly understood in Low German, as is seen by the corrupt form hogshead, which it assumed on being adopted by English.