An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Dach

by Friedrich Kluge

Dach, n., ‘roof, cover, shelter,’ from MidHG. dach, n., ‘roof, covering, ceiling, awning,’ OHG. dah; it corresponds to AS. þœc, ‘roof,’ E. thatch, OIc. þak; Goth. *Þak, ‘roof,’ is wanting, the term used being hrôt, the primit. Teut. term for ‘roof,’ allied to Decken. The art of constructing houses (see under Giebel, First, Haus, Thür, Schwelle, Tenne, Zimmer, &c.) was not yet developed when the Teutons were migrating from East to West; hence most of the technical terms are peculiar to Teutonic. The primary meaning of the word Dach is apparent, since it is formed by gradation from a Teut. root Þek, Aryan teg, ‘to cover’; Lat. tego, tegere; Gr. τέγος, n., ‘roof’; the same stage of gradation as in HG. Dach is seen in Lat. toga (‘the covering garment’), Lat. tugurium, ‘hut.’ The same root appears in Gr. with a prefix s, στέγω, ‘I cover,’ στέγη, ‘roof,’ as well as in Lith. stógas, ‘roof,’ Ind. sthágâmi, ‘I cover.’ Hence the HG. Dach, like the equiv. Gr. τέγος, στέγη, Lith. stógas (akin to stěgti, ‘to cover’), signifies properly ‘the covering part.’