An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/einst

by Friedrich Kluge

einst, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. einst, einest, OHG. einêst, adv., ‘once, at one time’; an obscure deriv. of ein; in AS. œ̂nes, E. once, to which OHG. eines, MidHG. eines, ‘once, at one time,’ also correspond. Comp. OHG. anderes, anderêst, MidHG. anderes, anderst, ‘otherwise,’ as similar formations.