An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Hader
Hader (1.), m., ‘contention, strife, brawl,’ from MidHG. hader, m., ‘quarrel, strife’; unrecorded in OHG. For this word OTeut. has most frequently a deriv. in u- (w-), signifying ‘battle,’ which appears in West Teut. only as the first part of compounds; AS. heaþo-, OHG. hadu- (Goth. *haþu-). In Scand. Hǫð is the name of a Valkyre, and Hǫðr that of a mythological king and the brother of Balder; the names are probably based upon Haþu-z, an OTeut. war-god. With these Κότυς, the name of a Thracian goddess, has been compared. The following, however, are certainly allied: — OSlov. kotora, f., ‘battle,’ Ir. cath, m., ‘battle’ (with which Kelt. Catu-rîges, proper noun, lit. ‘war-kings,’ is connected), Ind. çátru-s, ‘enemy’; perhaps too Gr. κότος, κοτέω; a deriv. in r, like Hader, is preserved in OSlov. kotora, ‘battle’; see also Haß. In G. the old form haþu became obsolete at an early period, being supplanted by Kampf and Krieg, but it was retained in OHG. as the first component in some compound proper names, such as Hadubrant; ModHG. Hedwig is OHG. Haduwîg, ‘battle strife.’ Similarly appears OHG. hilta, f., ‘battle,’ in MidHG. only in proper names, such as Hildebrandt, Brünhilt, &c. It would be very interesting to find out why the OTeut. words gave place to the later forms.
Hader (2.), m., ‘rag, tatter, clout,’ from MidHG. hader, m., ‘patch, torn piece of stuff,’ OHG. hadara, f., ‘patch, rag’; also with a suffix l, MidHG. hadel, from which Fr. haillon is borrowed. The word does not seem to have been diffused in the Teut. group. It is not allied to Hader (1.); the two words are based on different stems. Hader, ‘patch’ (from Teut. haþrô, Aryan kátrâ), is either connected with the nasalised stem kant- in Lat. cento, Gr. κέντρων, ‘garment made of rags,’ Sans. kanthâ, f., ‘patchwork garment,’ or with Sans. çithirá, ‘loose, unbound.’