An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Kerze
Kerze, feminine, ‘taper, wax-light, candle,’ from Middle High German kęrze, ‘candle, taper,’ especially ‘wax candle,’ Old High German chęrza, charza, feminine, charz, masculine, ‘taper, wick, tow.’ We have to proceed from the latter in tracing the development of meaning in Kerze (compare Old Icelandic kerte, neuter, ‘wax-light’; ‘tow, wick made of tow, wick with a covering of wax, taper,’ form the series. Hence there is no need to suppose that Kerze has been borrowed from Ft. cerâta, allied to cera, ‘wax,’ an assumption equally at variance with the phonological relations of the words. It is true that neither *karta-, ‘tow,’ nor its derivative *kartjô, ‘taper,’ has any etymological support in the non-Teutonic languages. The Old High German doublet karza, kęrza, may, however, be explained by the assumption of a Gothic *kartjô, feminine, the mutation appearing only at a late period before r and consonants in Old High German.