An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/tauen

by Friedrich Kluge

tauen, vb., ‘to thaw,’ from MidHG. touwen, töuwen, OHG. douwen, dęwen (dôan), wk. vb., ‘to dissolve’; comp. Du. dooijen, AS. þâwan, E. to thaw, OIc. þeyja. With ModHG. Tauwind, m., ‘thaw wind, comp. Du. dooij, E. thaw, OIc. þeyr. If the Teut. root þaw, ‘to dissolve’ (comp. verdauen), exhibited in all these words, has originated in þagw, equiv. to Aryan tē̆q, Gr. τήκω, ‘to melt,’ τακερός, ‘liquid,’ may be counted as cognates. Yet the Teut. words, as well as Osset. t‘ayun, ‘to thaw,’ may point to an Aryan root taw.