An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Buch
Buch, n., ‘book, quire,’ from the equiv. MidHG. buoch, OHG. buoh, n. It differs in gender and declension in the various OTeut. dialects; Goth. bôka, f., and bôk, n., f., signify ‘letter (of the alphabet)’ in the sing., but ‘book, letter (epistle), document’ in the plur.; akin to OSax. bôk, ‘book,’ Du. boek, AS. bôk, f., equiv. to E. book. The sing. denoted orig., as in Goth., the single character, the plur. a combination of characters, ‘writing, type, book, letter’; comp. Goth. afstassais bôkôs, ‘writing of divorcement’; wadjabôkôs, ‘bond, handwriting’; frabauhta bôka, ‘deed of sale.’ The plur. was probably made into a sing. at a later period, so that ModHG. Buch signified lit. ‘letters (of the alphabet).’ The OTeut. word, which even on the adoption of Roman characters was not supplanted by a borrowed word (see Brief, made its way, like the word Buche, into Slav. at an early period; comp. OSlov. buky, ‘beech, written character’ (plur. bukŭve, ‘book, epistle’). Buch was used in the earliest times for the runes scratched on the twigs of a fruit-tree (see reißen); hence it results from Tacitus (Germania, 10) that Buch (lit. ‘letter’) is connected with OHG. buohha, ‘beech.’ The same conclusion follows from the Ger. compound Buchstabe, which is based on an OTeut. word — OHG. buohstab, OSax. bôcstaf, AS. bôcstœf (but E. and Du. letter), OIc. bókstafr. Undoubtedly the Germans instinctively connect Buchstabe with Buch and not with Buche. As far as the form is concerned, we are not compelled to accept either as the only correct and primit. Teut. word; both are possible. Historical facts, however, lead us to regard Buchstabe as Buchenstab. With the term Buchenstab the early Germans intimately combined the idea of the rune scratched upon it, and constituting its chief value. Comp. the following word and Rune.