An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/stehlen

by Friedrich Kluge

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’).