An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Kasten

by Friedrich Kluge

Kasten, m., ‘chest,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kaste, OHG. chasto, m.; this word, which is at all events really Teut., is wanting in the rest of the OTeut. dials. Goth. *kasta, ‘receptacle,’ may be connected with kasa-, ‘vessel,’ so that the dental would be a derivative; yet kas signifies specially ‘an earthen vessel, pot’ (comp. kasja, ‘potter’). This Goth. kas, moreover, became char in OHG. by the normal change of s into r; in the ModHG. literary speech it is now wanting, but it appears in MidHG. binen-kar, upon which ModHG. Bienenkorb is based.