An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/hangen
hangen, vb., ‘to hang, be suspended,’ from MidHG. hâhen (hienc, gehangen), OHG. hâhan (hiang, gihangan), str. vb.; comp. fangen, from OHG. fâhan: before h an n is suppressed (comp. OHG. dâhta from denchan, dachte from denken; brachte, OHG. brâhta, from bringen). Corresponding to Du. hangen, AS. hôn (hêng, hangen), E. to hang, Goth. hâhan for *hanhan, str. vb., ‘to hang.’ In ModHG., E., and Du., the old str. vb. has been confused with the corresponding wk. vb., so that the trans. and intrans. meanings have been combined; comp. Du. hangen, E. to hang, ‘to suspend and to be suspended’; in MidHG. hâhen, is trans. and intrans., while hangen (OHG. hangên, AS. hangian) is intrans. only, ‘to be suspended’; to this is allied OHG. and MidHG. hęngen, ‘to hang down (one's head), give a horse its head, permit, grant,’ comp. henken. The ModHG. vb. is due to a blending in sound of MidHG. hâhen (hangen) and hęngen, yet in meaning it represents only MidHG. hâhen, OHG. hâhan. Terms undoubtedly allied to the common Teut. root hanh (hâh) are wanting in the other Aryan languages; Goth. hâhan, ‘to leave in doubt,’ has been compared with Lat. cunctari, ‘to delay.’