An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Rechen

by Friedrich Kluge

Rechen, masculine, ‘rake, rack,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rëche, Old High German rëhkho, masculine; corresponding to Dutch reek, feminine, ‘rake,’ and Old Icelandic reka, feminine, ‘rake’; allied to Middle High German rëchen, Old High German rëhhan, ‘to scrape together,’ Gothic rikan, ‘to heap up, collect,’ also to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch rake, Anglo-Saxon racu, feminine, English rake, with a different gradation. The Teutonic root rak, rëk, from Aryan reg, rog, is compared by some with Greek ‘ὀ-ρέγειν, ‘to stretch out,’ by others, without reason, to Latin legere, ‘to collect.’ See rechnen and recken.