An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Masche

by Friedrich Kluge

Masche, feminine, ‘mesh, stitch,’ from Middle High German mā̆sche, Old High German and Old Low German mā̆sca, feminine, ‘mesh, snare’; compare Anglo-Saxon mœ̂sce, English mesh, Old Icelandic mǫskve, masculine; Gothic *mêsqa, *masqa, are by chance not recorded. According to the permutation of consonants, the latter is based on pre-Teutonic mêzga- (mosga-); compare Lithuanian mázgas, ‘threads interlaced, knot,’ which is connected with a verb mezgù (mègsti), ‘to tie knots, knit (nets).’ Thus Masche may be traced to a Teutonic root mêsg (pre-Teutonic and Aryan mē̆zg), ‘to plait.’