An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Riemen

by Friedrich Kluge

Riemen, masculine, ‘strap, thong, strong,’ from Middle High German rieme, Old High German riomo, masculine, ‘band, girdle, strap’; corresponding to Old Saxon riomo, masculine, Dutch riem, Anglo-Saxon reóma, ‘strap’; Gothic *riuma, masculine, is wanting. Greek ῥῦμα, ‘towing-line, rope,’ is primitively allied, and hence the Aryan root was probably rū̆ (Greek ἐρύω), ‘to draw.’