An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Aft
Aft, masculine, ‘bough, branch,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German ast, masculine, ‘branch,’ corresponding to the equivalent Gothic asts. The term is unknown to the other dialects, yet its great antiquity is incontestable because of the agreement of Teutonic astaz (a permutation of the pre-Teutonic ozdos; compare Mast, and the examples cited there of the permutation of the Aryan zd, sd, to Teutonic st) with Greek ὄζος (ὄσθοε), ‘branch, twig, knot, node (of a tree)’; the latter with Armenian ost, ‘branch,’ is likewise based upon osdos. The meanings of the Greek word admit the supposition of its being allied to Middle Low German ôst (Low German aust), Dutch oest, Anglo-Saxon ôst, ‘knot, node’ (Aryan stem ôsdo-).