An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Thon

by Friedrich Kluge

Thon, masculine, ‘clay,’ earlier Modern High German Than, Tahen, from Middle High German tâhe, dâhe, Old High German dâha, feminine, ‘clay, loam’ (also ‘earthen vessel’); corresponding to Gothic þâhô (from *þânhô), feminine, ‘clay,’ Anglo-Saxon þô (older þôhœ), feminine, ‘clay,’ Old Icelandic þá, feminine, ‘clayey soil.’ No words occur in the other Aryan languages to elucidate the implied pre-Teutonic tankân, ‘loam.’