An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Erde

by Friedrich Kluge

Erde, feminine, ‘earth, ground, soil, world,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ërde, Old High German ërda, feminine; a word common to Teutonic; compare Gothic airþa, Old Icelandic jǫrð, Anglo-Saxon eorðe, English earth, Dutch aarde, Old Saxon ërtha, feminine, ‘earth,’ To the dental derivative ër-þô, Old High German ëro, ‘earth,’ also belongs; so too Greek ἔρ-αὗε, ‘to earth,’ and perhaps Latin arvum, ‘arable land’ (Anglo-Saxon eard), as well as the old Aryan root ar, ‘to plough’; see Acker, Art. —