An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/thun

by Friedrich Kluge

thun, verb, ‘to do, perform, make,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German tuon; corresponding to Old Saxon dûan, Dutch doen, Anglo-Saxon dôn, English to do. Further details concerning this essentially West Teutonic strong verbal root dô, dê (in Gothic taujan, ‘to do’), belongs to grammar; yet see also That and the suffix -tum. The pre-Teutonic dhô, dhê, has a wide ramification in the other Aryan languages. Compare the Greek root θη, θε, in τίθημι ‘to put, do,’ Sanscrit root dhâ (dadhâmi and dhãmi), ‘to put, lay, do’ (dhâtṛ, ‘creator’), Old Slovenian děją (and deždą), ‘to do, make,’ Latin facio (perfect fêci, equivalent to Greek ἔθηκα).