An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Quecke

by Friedrich Kluge

Quecke, feminine, ‘quick-grass,’ Modern High German only, from Low German; compare Dutch kweek, Anglo-Saxon cwiče, English quitch-, couch-grass; these words seem to be connected with queck, ‘living,’ as a term for a luxuriant weed. “No plant has more vitality than this species of grass, which is propagated by its root, and therefore is very difficult to extirpate.”