An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Zier

by Friedrich Kluge

Zier, feminine, ‘ornament, decoration,’ from Middle High German ziere, Old High German ziarî, feminine, ‘beauty, magnificence, ornament’; an abstract of the Middle High German adjective ziere, Old High German ziari, zêri, ‘precious, splendid, beautiful.’ Corresponding to Old Icelandic tírr, Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon tîr, masculine, ‘fame, honour' (English tire). The relation of the words is difficult to explain, because the stem vowels (Old High German ia not equivalent to Anglo-Saxon î) do not correspond. No connection with Latin decus, ‘honour’ (decôrus, ‘becoming’), is possible. —