An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Bug

by Friedrich Kluge

Bug, m., ‘bend, flexure, hock, bow (of a ship),’ from MidHG. buoc(g), OHG. buog, m., ‘upper joint of the arm, shoulder, upper joint of the leg, hin, hock’; comp. Du. boeg, ‘ship’s bow,’ AS. bôg, bôh, ‘armus, ramus,’ E. bough (‘the joint of a tree,’ as it were). The Goth. word may have been *bôgus (from pre-Teut. bhâghú-s); comp. Sans. bâhus (for bhâghú-s), ‘arm, fore-arm, fore-feet,’ also Gr. πᾶχυς, πῆχυς (for φᾶχυς), ‘elbow, fore-arm, bend of the arm,’ Armen. bazuk, ‘arm.’ On account of the Aryan base bhâghú-s the derivation of ModHG. Bug from biegen (root bug, pre-Teut. bhuk), is impossible. The ancient terms for parts of the body, such as Arm, Bug, Herz, Nase, Niere, &c., are based upon obscure roots, of which we find no further trace anywhere; they belong, in fact, to the most primitive vocabulary of Aryan speech. —