An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Hechse

by Friedrich Kluge

Hechse, Hächse, f., from the equiv. MidHG. hęhse, OHG. hahsa, f., ‘hock' (especially of horses); the presumable form in Goth. is *hahsi (gen. *hahsjôs), f. Corresponding in sound to OInd. kakšýâ, f., ‘girth (of a saddle),’ a derivative of kákša-s, m., ‘passage for the girths, armpit'; Lat. coxa, ‘hip,’ whence the adv. coxim, ‘squatting,’ from which a meaning similar to that of the HG. word may be deduced. The signification of the primit. Aryan word fluctuated between ‘armpit, hip, and hock.’ In the Teut. group the following are also allied to Goth. *hahsi, f. — OHG. hahsinôn, MidHG. hęhsenen, ‘subnervare, to hamstring,’ AS. hôxene, MidE. houghsene, Fris. hôxene, ‘hock.’