An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/mangeln

by Friedrich Kluge

mangeln, vb., ‘to want, lack, be lacking,’ from MidHG. mangeln, OHG. mangolôn, ‘to dispense with, miss, be in want of'; Mangel, from MidHG. mangel, m., ‘want, defect.’ To this is allied MidHG. manc, ‘want, defect,’ also OHG. mangôn, męngen, ‘to be deficient’; Du. mangelen, ‘to dispense with.’ A Teut. root mang, mangw, does not occur elsewhere; it may be primit. allied to Lat. mancus, ‘mutilated, powerless, deficient,’ from which early derivatives were formed in E., AS. gemancian, ‘to mutilate’; to this Du. mank, ‘limping, deficient,’ and E. to mangle are also akin.