An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Pfühl

by Friedrich Kluge

Pfühl, masculine and neuter, ‘bolster, pillow,’ from Middle High German pfülwe, neuter, Old High German pfuliwî, neuter ‘feather cushion’; also Old High German pfulwo, Middle High German pfulwe, masculine; borrowed at the beginning of our era, as is indicated by the invariable permutation of p to pf, and the retention of the Latin v as w, from Latin pulvînus (pulvînar), ‘pillow, cushion, bolster,’ probably contemporaneously with Flaum, Kissen, and Pips. Compare Anglo-Saxon pyle, pylwe, English pillow, Dutch peuluw, ‘pillow.’ The early period at which the West Teutonic form pulwîn was borrowed is attested by the fact that Latin pulvînus is not preserved in the Romance languages.