An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Zeit

by Friedrich Kluge

Zeit, f., ‘time, epoch, period, tense,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. zit, f. and n. (OHG. zîd, n.); corresponding to OSax. tîd, Du. tijd, AS. tîd, E. tide (comp. Du. tij, which is also used of the flow of the sea). The root of Teut. tî-di-, ‘time,’ is tî-, as is proved by the equiv. OIc. tíme, AS. tîma, E. time (comp. Goth. hweila under Weile). A corresponding Aryan root dī̆ is presupposed by Sans. a-diti, ‘unlimited in time and space, unending, endless’ (the name of the goddess Aditi). Other Teut. derivatives of the same root are Zeile and Ziel, which also point to the ‘limitless in time or space’. —