An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Sieg

by Friedrich Kluge

Sieg, masculine, ‘victory, triumph, conquest,’ from the equivalent Middle High German sige, also sic (g), Old High German sigi, sigu, masculine; a common Teutonic word; compare Gothic sigis, Old Icelandic sigr, Anglo-Saxon segor and sige, Dutch zege. The great antiquity of the Teutonic stem segoz, sigiz, is attested both by the proper names Segi-mêrus, Segi-mundus, and Segestes, mentioned by Tacitus, and by the terms in the cognate languages; Aryan séghos, neuter, ‘prevailing might,’ is implied also by Indian sáhas and Zend hazaṅh, ‘power, might, victory.’ Compare Sanscrit sah, ‘to overpower, vanquish, conquer,’ to which Greek ἔχω (aorist ἔ-σχ-ον) and Old Irish segaim, ‘I attain,’ are closely allied.