An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Reh

by Friedrich Kluge

Reh, neuter, ‘roe, deer,’ from the equivalent Middle High German rêck (genitive rêhes), Old High German rêf (genitive rêhes), neuter; the stem raiha- is common to Teutonic; compare Dutch ree, Anglo-Saxon râhdeór, English roe, Old Icelandic rá; Gothic *ráih is by chance not recorded. Allied also to Old High German and Old Low German rêho, masculine (like Anglo-Saxon râ, masculine, from *râha), ‘roe,’ and reia (Anglo-Saxon rœ̂ge). feminine, ‘caprea’; for another feminine form see Ricke. Teutonic raiha- from raiko- can scarcely be related to Sanscrit ṛçya, ‘buck of a species of antelopes.’ See further Hahnrei.