An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wachtel

by Friedrich Kluge

Wachtel, feminine, ‘quail,’ from the equivalent Middle High German wahtel, Old High German wahtala, feminine; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon wyhtel (rare; usually çrschęn). The term looks like a derivative of Wacht (root wak, ‘to be awake’). It is probable, however, that the word has attained its present form by many changes; compare Dutch kwakkel, kwartel, ‘quail’ (phonetically cognate with Middle Latin quaccila, French quaille, Italian quaglia, ‘quail’). The word for ‘quail,’ common to Sanscrit and Greek but unknown to Teutonic, was wortok, wortog; compare Sanscrit vartikâ, Greek ὄρτυξ, ‘quail.’