An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Arzenei
Arzenei, f. (in the 17th cent. accented on the A also), ‘medicine,’ from MidHG. arzenîe (erzonîe), f., ‘art of healing, remedy.’ The OHG. word does not occur, but only a derivative OHG. erzinen, giarzinôn, MidHG. erzenen, ‘to heal;’ the verb, by its suffix, suggests Goth. lêkinôn, AS. lœ̂cnian, OHG. lâhhinôn, ‘to heal.’ From OHG. gi-arzinôn, the MidHG. substant. arzenîe, which did not appear until a later period, might then have been formed with a Rom. termination. The assumption that MidHG. arzenîe referred to Archigenes of Apamea (in Syria), a famous physician, is untenable; if this assumption were correct, we should have expected OHG. *arzin, or rather *arzino, ‘physician,’ which, however, nowhere to be found. Besides, OHG. arzinôn formed into arzât, ‘physician,’ under the influence of the genuinely Teut. and Goth. lêkinôn, OHG. lâhhinôn, ‘to heal,’ makes any reference to Archigenes quite superfluous. Moreover, MidHG. has also a form arzatîe (MidDu. arsedîe), ‘medicine.’ See Arzt.