An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/genau

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An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, G (1891)
by Friedrich Kluge, translated by John Francis Davis
genau
Friedrich Kluge2511266An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, G — genau1891John Francis Davis

genau, ‘accurate, precise, strict, parsimonious,’ from late MidHG. (MidG.) nouwe, ‘careful, exact,’ akin to nouwe, genouwe, adv., ‘scarcely’; comp. Du. naauw, ‘narrow, exact, punctual.’ Probably these cognates, in their Goth. form *ga-nêws, are to be connected with Goth. nêhws, HG. nahe. Others refer them to a root nau, ‘to narrow,’ in Not and its cognates.