An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wurz

by Friedrich Kluge

Wurz, feminine, ‘root, herb,’ from Middle High German and Old High German wurz, feminine, ‘herb, plant’ (Middle High German also ‘root’); compare Old Saxon wurt, ‘herb, flower,’ Anglo-Saxon wyrt, English wort, Gothic waúrts, ‘root.’ An Aryan root wṛd, wrā̆d, is indicated by Greek ῥάδαμνος, ‘tendril, shoot’ (Greek ῥίζα from ϝριδjα), and Latin râdix (Greek ῥάδιξ), with which again Old Icelandic rôt (whence the equivalent English root) for *wrôt- is closely connected; compare also Nüssel. An allied Teutonic root urt (from Aryan wrd) appears in Gothic *aurti-, ‘herb,’ and Old High German orzôn, ‘to plant.’ — To this is allied Würze, feminine, ‘spice, seasoning, wort (brewing),’ from Middle High German würze, feminine, ‘spice plant’; corresponding to English wort and Old Saxon wurtia, ‘spice.’ —