An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Heide
Heide (1.), feminine, ‘heath, uncultivated land, heather,’ from Middle High German heide, Old High German heida, feminine, ‘heath, untilled, wild, overgrown land, heather’; compare Gothic haiþi, feminine, ‘field, Anglo-Saxon hœ̂þ, masculine and neuter, ‘heath, desert,’ also ‘heather,’ English heath, Old Icelandic heiðr, feminine. The primary sense of the common Teutonic word is ‘treeless, untilled plain’; the meaning ‘heather’ evolved from this is West Teutonic (Anglo-Saxon Dutch and German), so too Dutch hei, heide. Gothic haiþi, ‘field, plain,’ from pre-Teutonic kâitî, occurs also in Old Indian kšêtra-m, ‘field, cornfield, region, country,’ for skêtram. See the next word.
Heide (2.), masculine, ‘heathen, pagan,’ from Middle High German heiden, masculine, ‘heathen’ (especially ‘Saracen’), Old High German heidan, masculine; compare Dutch heiden, Anglo-Saxon hœ̂þen, English heathen, Old Icelandic heiðenn, ‘heathen.’ Ulfilas is acquainted only with the corresponding feminine haiþnô, ‘heathen woman,’ while the masculine plural equivalent to Latin gentes, Greek ἔθνη, appears as þiudôs. The connection of the word with human progress is difficult to decide; on account of the diffusion of the word in all the Teutonic dialects, we are evidently not concerned here with a word originating in the Old High German Biblical texts and translations. The usual assumption that Latin paganus, ‘heathen,’ was the model on which the Teutonic word was built needs to be restricted, since it is improbable that all the Old Teutonic dialects independently of one another should have given an inaccurate rendering of paganus, especially since the Slavonic languages have borrowed the word directly (Old Slovenian, Russian poganŭ). Latin paganus, ‘heathen’ (Italian pagano, French païen), appears in the second half of the 4th century after Christianity was established as the religion of the Empire by Constantine and his sons, and the old worship was forced from the towns into the country districts. The late occurrence of the Latin word explains the fact that in Gothic first of all a solitary instance of the new term ‘heathen’ is found in the form haiþnô, feminine, ‘a heathen woman.’ But the appearance of the word in Gothic is more easily accounted for than in any other dialect from the Gothic forms haiþi, feminine, ‘field,’ haiþiwisks, ‘wild’ (miliþ h., ‘wild honey’). Hence in Gothic a form *haiþins would be connected more closely with Latin paganus, while in the other dialects the corresponding word cannot probably be explained from the Latin form. Perhaps here, as in the case of Kirche and Pfaffe, the influence of the Goths and of their Christianity upon the other Teutons is discernible. Compare the history of the word taufen.