An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/bange

by Friedrich Kluge

bange, adj. and adv., ‘anxious(ly), uneasy, uneasily,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. bange, adv., ‘anxiously,’ and subst. ‘anxiety, care.’ The root is ange, which further appears in Angst; as enge is the corresponding adj., bange can only be based on the MidHG. adv. ange, OHG. ango, the adv. afterwards becoming an adj. The b has arisen from the unaccented prefix be (bî), as g in glauben, grade, from ge. See barmherzig, bleiben.