An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/herb

by Friedrich Kluge

herb, adjective, from the equivalent Middle High German hęre, inflected hęrwer (also hare, inflected harwer), ‘bitter, harsh’; Gothic and Old High German *har-wa- is wanting. Allied to Old Saxon har-m, Anglo-Saxon hear-m, adjective, ‘painful, mortifying, bitter’?. See Harm.