An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Haufe

by Friedrich Kluge

Haufe, m., ‘heap, pile, mass,’ from MidHG. hûfe, houfe, m., hûf, houf, m., ‘heap, troop,’ OHG. hûfo, houf, m., ‘heap, troop’; comp. OSax. hôp, Du. hoop, AS. heáp, m., E. heap; Scand. hópr, ‘troop,’ is borrowed from LG.; Goth. *haups, *hûpa are wanting; these words, which belong to the same root, are evidently related by gradation (comp. OHG. hûba, ‘hood,’ allied to OHG. houbit, ‘head’). Probably related to OSlov. kupŭ (Goth. *haupa-), m., ‘heap,’ Lith. kaúpas, ‘heap,’ kuprà, ‘hump’ (Lett. kupt, ‘to form into a ball’), although the correspondence of Slav. p to LG. and E. p is not normal; Slav. p is mostly f or b in LG. and Goth. Since Goth. p indicates pre-Teut. b, the word may be connected also with Lat. incubo, ‘the treasure demon who lies on the hoard, nightmare.’ Others compare it to Lith. kugis, ‘heap.’