An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Deichsel

by Friedrich Kluge

Deichsel (1.), f. ‘pole, thill, shaft,’ from the equiv. MidHG. dîhsel, OHG. dîhsala, f.; comp. OIc. þísl, AS. þîxl, þîsl, Du. dissel, OLG. thîsla, f. It has no connection with E. thill, which is related rather to ModHG. Diele. A word peculiar to the Teut. dialects, and of obscure origin; perhaps Lat. témo, ‘pole, shaft,’ is primit. allied (if it represents teixmo; comp. âla from *axla, under Achsel). The Aryans had learnt the way to build waggons in their Asiatic home ere the separated into different tribes: this is proved by the words Joch, Nabe, Rad, Wagen.

Deichsel (2.), f., ‘adze’; comp. MidHG. dëhsel, OHG. dëhsala, ‘axe, hatchet’; from a Teut. root þehs, equiv. to Aryan teks. Comp. OSlov. tesati, ‘to hew,’ Lith. taszýti, ‘to hew, fashion with an axe,’ Sans. takšan, ‘carpenter’ (see under Dachs). The ei of the ModHG. word is based upon a variant þîhs, which is MidG. and LG.; numerous HG. dialects preserve the old e.