An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Pech

by Friedrich Kluge

Pech, n., from the equiv. MidHG. pëch, bëch (comp. Papst), OHG. pëh, bëh, n., ‘pitch’; MidHG. pfich (very rare), from OHG. *pfih, unless it is a phonetic transcription of the Lat. or LG. word. It corresponds to OSax. pik, n., Du. pik, pek, AS. pič, n., E. pitch; OIc. bik. The Teut. cognates are based on a Lat.-Rom. word; Lat. picem, acc. of pix (with regard to the oblique case as the base comp. Kreuz). Compared with Kreuz from crŭcem, the preservation of the guttural as k and of the vowel quantity in the stem is an important element in the history of the word. Lat. pĭcem was naturalized at a much earlier period in G. than crŭcem, probably in the 7th cent. Comp. further Ital. pece, Fr. poix, ‘pitch,’ from Lat. picem (nom. pix).