An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Magd

by Friedrich Kluge

Magd, f., ‘maid, servant,’ from MidHG. maget (plur. męgde), meit, ‘maiden, virgin,’ also ‘bond girl, servant,’ OHG. magad (plur. magidi, męgidi), f., ‘maiden’; corresponding to Goth. magaþs (wanting in OIc.), AS. mœgþ, OSax. magath, f.; the common OTeut. word (unknown only in Scand.) for ‘maiden,’ in OSax. and MidHG. also with the ModHG. sense ‘maid, servant.’ From these are derived the diminutives (see Küchlein and Schwein), Goth. *magadein, n., OHG. magatîn, MidHG. magetîn, n., ‘girl,’ AS. maœgden, E. maid, maiden (AS. mœgþ, f., ‘maiden,’ became obsolete at the beginning of the MidE. period), Goth. magaþs, ‘maiden,’ and its cognates in the other languages are old femin. derivatives from an archaic term, magus, ‘boy, youth’; comp. Goth. magus, ‘boy, servant,’ OIc. mǫgr, ‘son,’ AS. mago, ‘son, youth, man, servant.’ To this is allied another femin. derivative, Goth. mawi, OIc. mœ́r (for *magwî, with the loss of a g, see Niere); comp. further AS. meówle, ‘girl.’ Teut. magus, ‘son, boy, servant,’ is equiv. to OIr. macc, ‘boy, youth, son’ (comp. the Ir. proper names MacCarthy, &c.).