An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Himmel

by Friedrich Kluge

Himmel, m., ‘heaven, sky, canopy, clime,’ from the equiv. MidHG. himel, OHG. himil (OBav. humil, m.; comp. OSax. himil, Fris. himul, Du. hemel, Swed. and Dan. himmel; the derivative l is the result of differentiation from an earlier derivative n, formed like Goth. himins, OIc. himenn, with which the Sax. forms with f for m are connected; AS. heofon, m., E. heaven, OSax. heƀan, m., ModLG. heven. These forms are based upon a common Teut. hemono- (humeno-); on account of its derivative suffix, note too Gr. οὐρανό. The ModHG. sense, ‘sky’ is current in all the Teut. dials.; the word is probably connected with the OTeut. stem ham, ‘to cover, veil,’ mentioned under hämisch, Hemd, and Leichnam. OHG. himil has also the meaning ‘ceiling,’ especially in the OHG. derivative himilizzi, ModHG. himelze, a fact which supports the last assumption; comp. AS. hûsheofon, Du. hemel, MidLG. hemelte, ‘roof.’ The etymology of Himmel (Goth. himins), based upon OSlov. kamy, Lith. akmŭ, ‘stone,’ as well as upon Sans. açmâ, ‘stone, (the stone-roofed) vault of heaven,’ and Gr. κάμινος, ‘oven,’ are not satisfactory, since the word probably denoted the ‘covering of the earth’ originally.