An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Zeug

by Friedrich Kluge

Zeug, neuter, ‘stuff, substance, material, fabric, apparatus, utensils,’ from Middle High German ziuc (g), masculine and neuter, ‘tool, implements, equipment, weapons, baggage, stuff, testimony, proof, witness'; Old High German giziug, masculine and neuter, ‘equipment, implements’ (hence Modern High German Zeughaus, ‘arsenal’). Allied to Modern High German Zeuge, masculine, ‘witness,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German (rare) ziuge. Also zeugen, verb, ‘to produce, beget, bear witness, testify,’ from Middle High German ziugen, ‘to beget, prepare, procure, acquire, bear witness, prove,’ Old High German giziugôn, ‘to attest, show.’ All the cognates are derived from the Teutonic root tuh (see ziehen), which in a few derivatives appears in the sense of ‘to produce, beget’; compare Anglo-Saxon teám, ‘descendants’ (to which English to teem is allied), Dutch toom, ‘brood.’ From the same root the meaning ‘to attest, show,’ (Old High German giziugôn), literally ‘to be put on judicial record,’ must be derived.