An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Friede

by Friedrich Kluge

Friede, m., ‘peace, tranquillity, quiet,’ from MidHG. vride, m., ‘peace, quiet, protection,’ OHG. fridu, m., ‘peace’; corresponding to OSax. frithu, m., AS. freoþo, friþu, f., OIc. friþr, m., ‘peace’; the common Teut. word for ‘peace.’ Found in Goth. only in Friþareiks, equiv. to Friedrich (lit. ‘prince of peace’); akin to Goth. gafriþôn, ‘to reconcile.’ The Teut. form friþu- contains the suffix Þu like Goth. dau-þu-s, ‘death’; þrítu-s, from an Aryan root pri, Teut. fri, lit. ‘to love, spare’; Friede, orig. ‘state of love, forbearance’ (see frei). It is worth noticing that Teut. first coined a word for ‘peace,’ for which no common term can be found in the Aryan languages, and the same may be said of ‘Krieg.’ See Hader.