An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/essen

by Friedrich Kluge

essen, verb, ‘to eat, dine, feed on,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ëȥȥen, Old High German ëȥȥan; common to Teutonic, and originally an Old Aryan strong verb; compare Gothic itan, Old Icelandic eta, Anglo-Saxon ëtan, English to eat, Dutch eten, Old Saxon ëtan; see fressen. The verbal root ët, ‘to eat,’ common to Teutonic, to which Old High German and Middle High German âs, Modern High German Aas (compare Latin êsus for *êd-to-, the participle of edere), also belong, is based upon an Aryan root ē̆d; compare the Sanscrit root ad, Greek ἔδομαι, Latin ĕdo, Lithuanian ědmi, ěmi, Old Slovenian jamĭ (from *ědmĭ), ‘I eat.’ —