An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/tausend

by Friedrich Kluge

tausend, n. and m., ‘thousand,’ from the equiv. MidHG. tûsend (tûsunt), OHG. tûsunt, dûsunt; corresponding to Goth. þûsundi, AS. þûsend, E. thousand, Du. duizend, OSax. thûsind. While the lower numerals up to a hundred are common to all the Aryan languages, the term for a thousand occurs elsewhere only in the Slav. group; comp. OSlov. tysąšta, Lith. túkstantis. The primary meaning and further history of the Slav.-Teut. word tûsntî, tûsontî, can no longer be discovered; perhaps Slav. borrowed this word in prehistoric times from Teut. (in Sans. sahasra, Zend hazaṅhra, Gr. χίλιοι for *χέσλιοι, equiv. to gheslio-; in Lat. mîlia, equiv. to Gr. μύρια). —