An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/halten

by Friedrich Kluge

halten, vb., ‘to hold, support, detain, observe, perform, consider,’ from the equiv. MidHG. halten, OHG. haltan; comp. OSax. haldan, ‘to preserve, receive, detain as a prisoner, tend (cattle), adhere to, maintain,’ Du. houden (see haudern), AS. healdan, str. vb., ‘to watch over, lead, possess, rule,’ E. to hold; Goth. haldan, redupl. vb., ‘to graze cattle’; a redupl. vb. common to Teut. According to the OHG. variant halthan, haltan points to the normal Goth. form *halþan, which is also supported by OSwed. halla. The orig. sense of OTeut. haldan is perhaps ‘to keep together by careful watching,’ hence ‘to tend a herd, govern a tribe, rule.’ In the non-Teut. languages an Aryan root kalt of cognate meaning is not found. If the dental belonged orig. to the pres. stem merely, the word might also be derived from the root kol, and hence connected with Gr. βου-κόλος. No relation between haldan and Herde is possible. — ModHG. Halt, m., is wanting both in MidHG. and OHG.