An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/nüchtern

by Friedrich Kluge

nüchtern, adjective, from the equivalent Middle High German nüchtern, nüchter, Old High German nuohturn, nuohtarnîn, adjective, ‘without food or drink, fasting, temperate,’ compare Dutch nuchter, Anglo-Saxon nixtnig. The assumption that the word is based on Latin nocturnus does not suffice to explain the meaning of nüchtern, since the Latin term signifies only ‘nocturnal, at night’; nor is it possible to regard Old High German nuohturn as a genuine Teutonic derivative of Aryan nō̆kt, ‘night’ (Old Icelandic nótt), since it must have been equivalent in meaning to Latin nocturnus. It may more probably be compared with Greek νηφάλιος, ‘I am sober,’ νηφάλιος, νήπτης, ‘sober, without wine,’ the φ-π of which may represent an old guttural. In spite of this probable connection of the root, the suffix of nüchtern is still obscure,