An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Arzt
Arzt, m., ‘physician,’ from the equiv. MidHG. arzet, arzât, OHG. arzăt, m., a specifically Germ. word, unknown to Eng., Scand. and Goth. Its early appearance in OHG., in which OTeut. lâhhi was the more prevalent form, is remarkable (comp. Goth. lêkeis, ‘physician,’ AS. lœ̂ce, E. leech; also the ModHG. proper name Lachner, from MidHG. lâchenœre, ‘enchanter,’ lit. ‘physician’). The MidDu. form arsatre, OLG. ercetere, ‘physician’ (MidLG. arste), proves the origin from the oft-recurring Franc. and MidLat. archiater (άρχιατρός), ‘physician’ (espec. physician-in-ordinary to the king). There are no phonetic difficulties in connecting OHG. arzât with arzâter, arciâter, archiâter, since the OLG. and MidDu. form itself points to the MidLat. form. Moreover, the technical terms of Greek physic found their way at an early period to the West (comp. Büchse, Pflaster), but always through the medium of Lat. and Rom. The unique arzâte(r) was entirely unknown to Rom. (Ital. medico, OFr. mirc, Fr. médecin, which of course were also unknown to Teut.). Concerning arz-, erz-, as the representative of Gr. άρχι-, see Erz-. The theory advanced on account of ModHG. Mühlarzt, ‘mill-wright,’ that OHG. arzât is from Lat. artista, is on phonetic and historical grounds unwarranted. MidLat. artista was not used for medical practitioners until late in the Middle Ages (comp. ModFr. artiste vétérinaire); the word too is unknown in earlier Rom. On the other hand, we meet with archiatri even as far back as the Frank. king Childebert and Charlemagne. See besides Arzenei.