An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Reiher

by Friedrich Kluge

Reiher, masculine, ‘heron,’ from the equivalent Middle High German reiger, masculine; Old High German *reiar, *reijar, are by chance not recorded; compare Old Saxon hreiera, Dutch reiger, Anglo-Saxon hrâgra, masculine, ‘heron.’ Old High German heigir and Middle High German heiger, ‘heron,’ are abnormal forms.