An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/nah

by Friedrich Kluge

nah, adjective, ‘near, impending,’ from Middle High German nâch (inflected nâher), Old High German nâh (inflected nâhêr), adjective, ‘near’; corresponding to Old Saxon nâh, Low German and Dutch na, Anglo-Saxon neáh, English nigh, adjective (whence the compare Anglo-Saxon neár, adverb, English near; superlative next, English next); Old Icelandic nár, Gothic néhws, ‘near.’ To the Gothic stem nêhwa- (for further derivatives see under Nachbar and nah) we should have expected néko-, nêqe-, in the non-Teutonic languages, but they do not occur. Greek ἐγγύς, ‘near,’ is no more equivalent in sound to nahe than Sanscrit nā̆́huša, ‘neighbouring."—