An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Ähre
Ähre, feminine, ‘ear’ (of corn), from the plural of Middle High German eher, Old High German ehir, ahir, neuter, ‘ear’ (of corn); corresponds to Dutch aar, Anglo-Saxon eár (from *eahor), English ear. As the derivative r stands for an older s, Gothic ahs, neuter (genitive ahsis) and Old Icelandic ax (also Swedish and Danish), ‘ear' (of corn), are identical with it; so, too, Old High German ah, ‘ear’ (of corn). Compare besides Old High German ahii, Modern High German Achel, ‘prickle, spike’ (of corn), (with regard to the ch, compare Bavarian Echer, ‘ear of corn,’ Anglo-Saxon and Northumb. œhher), Anglo-Saxon egle, ‘spikes' (of corn), English ails, eils ‘beard of wheat or barley,’ Low German (in Brockes) Eide, ‘spike’ (of corn), Gothic *agiþ? Compare also Ahne. The Teutonic root ah, which consequently, specially means ‘spike, ear' (of corn), agrees with Latin acus (genitive aceris), neuter, ‘corn-prickle.’ It may be said generally that a root ah, with the primary meaning ‘pointed,’ is very widely developed in the Aryan group; compare Greek ἄκανος, ‘a kind of thistle,’ ἄκαινα, ‘goad,’ ἄκων, ‘javelin,’ ἄκρος, ‘at the point,’ Latin acus, aculeus, acies (see Ecke).