An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Pfeil

by Friedrich Kluge

Pfeil, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German pfîl, masculine, ‘arrow, dart’; corresponding to Middle Low German pîl, Dutch pijl, Anglo-Saxon pîl, English pile, Scandinavian píla, ‘arrow.’ Borrowed at an early period from Latin pîlum, neuter, ‘heavy javelin,’ with a change of gender and meaning. The Old Teutonic word for arrow, Gothic arhwazna, Old Icelandic ǫr, Anglo-Saxon earh (etymologically the same as Latin arcus, ‘bow’), disappeared on the introduction of the word.