An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Hirse

by Friedrich Kluge

Hirse, feminine (older Modern High German and even yet Middle German, Suabian Hirsche), ‘millet,’ from the equivalent Middle High German hirse, hirs, Old High German hirsi, hirso, masculine; originally a High German word merely, which, however, in modern times has spread to the north (English and Danish hirse, Swedish hirs). Allied to Latin cirrus, ‘a tuft (of hair, &c.)’?.