An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Pfosten

by Friedrich Kluge

Pfosten, masculine, ‘post, stake,’ from Middle High German pfoste, Old High German pfosto, masculine, ‘post, beam’; compare Dutch post, ‘door-post,’ Anglo-Saxon and English post; from Latin postis, the diminutive of which, postellus (French poteau), is preserved in the Romance languages. The word was borrowed in pre-High German times contemporaneously with Pfahl.