An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Lid

by Friedrich Kluge

Lid, in Augenlid, neuter, from Middle High German, lit(t), neuter, ‘lid’ (especially of a vessel), Old High German lit, earlier hlit, neuter; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon hlid, neuter, ‘lid, door,’ English lid; Old Icelandic hliþ, neuter, ‘gate.’ ‘Eyelid’ in Icelandic is augnalok, neuter, literally ‘eye-lock’; in Middle English also eielid, English eyelid (Middle High German ougelit), and hence the term, like Augapfel, is common both to German and English hlid, ‘lock-up, lid,’ is connected with an old verbal stem, Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon hlîdan, ‘to cover, lock up.’