An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Segel

by Friedrich Kluge

Segel, neuter, ‘sail,’ from the equivalent Middle High German sëgel, Old High German sëgal, masculine; compare Old Saxon sëgel, neuter, Dutch zeil, neuter, Anglo-Saxon sëgel, masculine and neuter, English sail, Old Icelandic segl, neuter, ‘sail’ (Gothic *sigla- is not recorded). The word cannot have been borrowed from Latin sagulum, ‘military cloak,’ on account of the sounds, and because no other Old Teutonic nautical expressions have been derived from Latin; besides, sagulum is not a nautical term. Segel (Teutonic *segla-) looks very much like a Teutonic term (compare Mast), yet the root cannot be ascertained. From the Teutonic cognates French cingler and Spanish singlar, ‘to sail,’ are derived.