An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/straucheln

by Friedrich Kluge

straucheln, vb., ‘to stumble,’ from the equiv. MidHG. strûcheln, an intensive form of OHG. strûhhên, strûhhôn, ‘to stumble’; it corresponds to the equiv. Du. struikelen. To this is allied the root vb. OIc. strjúka, ‘to stroke, rub’; but ModHG. Strauch is scarcely connected with this Teut. root strū̆k, ‘to glide’ (at all events straucheln is not ‘to entangle oneself in bushes’). It is uncertain whether Gr. στρεύγεσθαι, ‘to grow tired,’ is a cognate.