An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Zecke

by Friedrich Kluge

Zecke, feminine, ‘tick,’ from the equivalent Middle High German zëcke, masculine and feminine; corresponding to Dutch teekt, Anglo-Saxon *tîca (ticia is misspelt for tiica), English tike, tick. From the old West Teutonic tī̆ko, tikko, are derived the equivalent Italian zecca, French tique. Aryan digh- is indicated by Armenian tiz, ‘tick,’ which is probably primitively allied to the Teutonic cognates.