An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/arg
arg, adj., ‘bad, severe, hard,’ from MidHG. arc(g), ‘vile, wicked, stingy, avaricious,’ OHG. arg, arag, ‘avaricious, cowardly, vile’; also OHG. arg, MidHG. arc(g) ‘evil, vileness, wickedness.’ Comp. AS. earg, adj., ‘cowardly, slothful’ (no longer found in E.), OIc. argr, ‘cowardly, effeminate’ (also ragr). Paul the Deacon cites arga as an abusive term among the Lombards. Through a Goth. *args the Teut. word may have made its way into Span. and Finn.; comp. Span. aragan, ‘slothful,’ Finn. arka, ‘cowardly.’ As it is not easy to deduce the meaning ‘cowardly’ from ‘avaricious,’ which appears chiefly in OHG., we must assume that the root idea of the Teut. arga- was ‘vile, base,’ of which ‘avaricious’ and ‘cowardly’ would be specialisations resulting from the liberal hospitality and bravery which characterised the Teutons. This word, like almost all words within the ethical sphere, is peculiar to Teutonic; comp. arm, böse, gut, übel. —