An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Geier

by Friedrich Kluge

Geier, masculine, ‘vulture, carrion kite,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German gîr, masculine, akin to Low German gier. On account of the early appearance of the German word we cannot assume that it was borrowed from the Romance cognates, Italian girfalco, French gerfaut (whence Middle High German gir-valke is derived), or from Latin Greek gyrare, ‘to wheel round.’ The connection between Old High German gîr with Old High German gī̆ri, Middle High German gîre (geier still occurs in Modern High German dialects), ‘greedy, covetous,’ and the Teutonic root gī̆r, ‘to covet,’ presents no difficulty. Geier is literally ‘the greedy bird.’ See gern, Gier.