An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/teuer

by Friedrich Kluge

teuer, adjective, ‘dear, costly, precious,’ from the equivalent Middle High German tiure, tiur, Old High German tiuri; corresponding to the equivalent Old Saxon diuri, Dutch duur, Anglo-Saxon dŷre, deóre, English dear (to which darling, from Anglo-Saxon deórling, is allied), Old Icelandic dýrr. For the gradation û (Modern High German tûr, ‘esteem’), iu, see dauern (2). The early history of this common Teutonic adjective, which is wanting only in Gothic, cannot be ascertained.