An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Zeh

by Friedrich Kluge

Zeh, masculine and feminine, ‘toe,’ from the equivalent Middle High German zéhe, Old High German zéha, feminine; corresponding to Dutch teen, Anglo-Saxon tâhœ, tâ, English toe, and the equivalent Old Icelandic tá. Beside the base taihôn, taihwôn (Bavarian zéchen and Swabian zaichen), assumed by these forms, Middle High German and Low German dialects prove the existence of a variant taiwón (from taigwôn, taihwôn); Swiss and Middle Rhenish zêb, zêbe, Franconian and Henneberg. zêwe, Thuringian zîwe. Pre-Teutonic daiqâ-n, ‘toe,’ is usually connected with Greek δάκτυλος (Latin digitus?) ‘finger,’ which, on account of the sounds, is, however, improbable, especially as the Teutonic word is always used in the sense of ‘toe.’