An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Koch

by Friedrich Kluge

Koch, m., ‘cook,’ from the equiv. MidHG. koch, OHG. choh(hh); comp. Du. and OSax. kok, ‘cook’; adopted before the HG. permutation of consonants, at latest in the 6th cent. (contemporaneously with Küche), when the art of cookery and horticulture were introduced from Italy; the word is based on Lat. coquus, or more accurately on the form koko- (comp. Ital. cuoco). The word passed into E. in a different form — AS. côc, E. cook, where the ô, compared with HG. and Lat. ŏ, is due to a change of quantity in an open syllable (comp. Schule and Kuchen); on the other hand, the ŏ of the HG. word is probably derived from the vb. kochen. The earlier Teut. word for kochen is sieden; an OTeut. word for ‘cook’ is wanting. —