An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/gelb
gelb, adj., ‘yellow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. gël, OHG. gëlo (gen. gëlwes); corresponding to OSax. gëlo, Du. geel, AS. geolo, E. yellow (OIc. gulr). The common West Teut. gelwa-, from pre-Teut. ghelwo-, is primit. allied to Lat. helvus, ‘greyish yellow’; the Aryan root ghel appears also in Gr. χλω-ρός, χλᾶ-ρός, ‘green, yellow,’ χλόη, ‘green objects,’ OSlov. zelenŭ, ‘yellow, green,’ Lith. żálias, ‘green’ (żėlti, ‘to grow green’), Sans. hari, ‘yellowish.’ Akin also to Galle and Gold.