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An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/stehlen

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An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, S (1891)
by Friedrich Kluge, translated by John Francis Davis
stehlen
Friedrich Kluge2510180An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, S — stehlen1891John Francis Davis

stehlen, vb., ‘to steal,’ from the equiv. MidHG. stëln, OHG. stëlan; a common Teut. str. vb. Comp. Goth. stilan, OIc. stela, AS. stëlan, E. to steal (to which stealth is allied), Du. stelen, OSax. stëlan, ‘to steal.’ The root is confined to Teut., and corresponds only partly to Gr. στερίσκω, ‘to rob’; perhaps the Teut. l instead of the Gr. r is due to hehlen (on account of the frequent combination of hehlen and stehlen). À vb. corresponding to the Gr. κλέπτω, ‘to steal,’ is preserved in Goth. (comp. Goth. hlifan, ‘to steal’).