An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/hold

by Friedrich Kluge

hold, adj., ‘favourable, gracious, charming, lovely,’ from MidHG. holt (gen. holdes), OHG. hold, adj., ‘gracious, condescending, favourable, faithful’; Goth. hulþs, ‘gracious,’ OIc. hollr, ‘gracious, faithful, healthy,’ AS. and OSax. hold. The common Teut. adj. originally denoted the relation of the feudal lord and his retainers (‘condescending, gracious,’ on the one side, ‘faithful, devoted,’ on the other); comp. MidHG. holde, m., ‘vassal.’ The idea expressed by hold was also current in the religious sphere — Goth. unhulþôns, f., lit. ‘fiends, devils,’ OHG. holdo, ‘genius,’ MidHG. die guoten holden, ‘penates.’ Hold is usually connected with an OTeut. root hal, ‘to bow,’ to which OHG. hald, ‘inclined,’ is allied; see Halde. It has also been referred to hal-ten on the supposition that the dental is derivative; hold, adj., ‘guarded, nursed’?. From the phonetic point of view there is no important objection to either of these derivations.