An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Streu
Streu, feminine, ‘litter, bed of straw,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ströu, feminine, allied to streuen, from the equivalent Middle High German ströuwen (strouwen), Old High German stręwen (strouwen), weak verb. To this correspond Gothic straujan, Old Saxon stręwian, Dutch strooijen, Anglo-Saxon streowian, English to strew. The common Teutonic straujan (to which Stroh is allied), whence Italian sdrajarsi, ‘to stretch away,’ is borrowed, is connected in some inexplicable manner with the Aryan root ster (strō̆), in Latin sternere, Greek στορέννυμι, στρώννυμι, and the Sanscrit root stṛ, ‘to strew.’