An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Hede

by Friedrich Kluge

Hede, feminine, ‘tow,’ Modern High German simply, from Low German heede, formed from Herde by suppressing the r (see Miete); compare Middle Dutch herde, ‘flax fibre,’ Anglo-Saxon heorde, feminine, ‘refuse of flax, tow,’ English hards (plural). Are Anglo-Saxon heord and Old Icelandic haddr, ‘hair,’ allied? For Hede (probably Gothic *hazdô, *hazdjó) Upper German has Werg.