An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Pfanne

by Friedrich Kluge

Pfanne, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German pfanne, Old High German pfanna, feminine, ‘pan’; widely diffused in Teutonic with the same sense, Dutch pan, Anglo-Saxon pǫnne, feminine, English pan. The permutation of p to High German pf indicates the early existence of the word in the form panna in German, perhaps about the 7th century, or, on account of the coincidence of the English with the Middle European German word, far earlier. The Latin form of patina, ‘dish, pan,’ is scarcely adequate to serve as the immediate source of the Teutonic words; compare further Pfennig. From Teutonic is derived the equivalent Slavonic pany.