An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Schlacht

by Friedrich Kluge

Schlacht, f., ‘battle, engagement,’ from MidHG. slahte, slaht, f., ‘killing, slaughter, battle,’ OHG. slahta, f., OSax. man-slahta, f., ‘death-blow, killing’; an abstract formed by the sem. suffix -tâ- (as in Schande), from the Teut. root slah, ‘to slay.’ For Schlacht in the sense of ‘sort’ see Geschlecht. Schlacht, ‘dyke, embankment,’ is also a derivative of schlagen, ‘to make firm by beating,’ which sense MidHG. slahen may have even in the classical poets. —