An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Sold

by Friedrich Kluge

Sold, m., ‘pay, salary,’ from MidHG. solt (d), m., ‘reward for service done,’ also ‘that which is to be performed, duty, service.’ It first appears in MidHG. about 1200 A.D., and is derived from Fr. solde, ‘soldier's pay,’ which is prop. the coin, Lat. solidus, Ital. soldo (ModFr. sou); yet the double sense in MidHG. can only be explained by the influence of the vb. sollen. —