An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Hemd

by Friedrich Kluge

Hemd, neuter, ‘shirt,’ from Middle High German and Middle Low German hęmde, hęmede, Old High German hęmidi, neuter, ‘shirt,’ properly ‘long under-garment’; allied to Old Frisian hemethe, Anglo-Saxon hęmeþe (Gothic *hameiþi?); a diminutive term, formed like Old High German jungîdi, ‘young of animals.’ The sense ‘short garment, bodice,’ originates in Teutonic hama-, ‘garment,’ the same as Old Icelandic hamr, masculine, ‘covering, skin, external form.’ See further under Leichnam, also Hamen, hämisch. The Gothic form *hameiþja- previous to its permutation was kamîtjo-, and with this the late Latin term camisia, ‘tunica interior, under-garment, shirt,’ recorded at the beginning of the 5th century, and chiefly in relation to soldiers, must be connected in some way; it differs little from the assumed form in pre-Teutonic; Old Icelandic hams, masculine (from hamisa-), ‘slough of a snake,’ has a derivative s. Probably Sanscrit çamulýa, ‘shirt,’ is primary allied. Since there is no doubt that the High German word is classical Teutonic, the vulgar camisia must be traced back to a Teutonic origin, which is also attested by Welsh hefis, ‘chemise,’ and Old Irish caimmse, ‘nomen vestis.’ The relation of the initial High German h to Romance c would correspond to that of French Chivert to its Old High German original Hiltibert, i.e. a Franconian ch forms the connecting link. In Latin camîsia we obtain for High German Hemd other related terms in Romance (French chemise, Italian camicia).