An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/gestalt

by Friedrich Kluge

gestalt, adj., ‘having form or shape,’ in wohlgestalt, ungestalt; comp. MidHG. ungestalt, OHG. ungistalt, ‘disfigured, ugly,’ MidHG. wolgestalt (wol ges'ęllet); a partic. of MidHG. stęllen, which may also mean ‘to shape, make, accomplish, set in order.’ To this is allied Gestalt, f., ‘external appearance, shape, figure, mien,’ MidHG. gestalt, f., ‘shape, appearance, nature,’ OHG. *gistalt. Considering the comparatively late appearance of the word (not until the end of the 13th cent.), Gestalt may have been derived from the old compound, OHG. ungistalt, MidHG. ungestalt, adj., ‘disfigured.’