An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Erbe

by Friedrich Kluge

Erbe, neuter, ‘heritage, inheritance,’ from Middle High German ęrbe, Old High German ęrbi, arbi, neuter, ‘inheritance’; a word common to Teutonic; compare the equivalent Gothic arbi, Anglo-Saxon yrfe (obsolete in English), Dutch erf, Old Saxon ęrƀi. Akin to Erbe, masculine, ‘heir, inheritor,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ęrbe, Old High German ęrbo, arbeo (Gothic arbja), masculine. With the Teutonic root arbh, ‘to inherit,’ some have connected the Old Irish comarpi, ‘joint heirs,’ and Greek ὀρφανός, Latin orbus, ‘orphaned,’ Armenian orb, ‘orphan’; Erbe, literally ‘orphan’?.