An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Ziege

by Friedrich Kluge

Ziege, feminine, ‘she-goat,’ from the equivalent Middle High German zige, Old High German ziga, feminine; a Franconian word, which in the Middle High German period passed also into Low German. In Upper German, Geiß, with which Ziege is probably connected etymologically; for Gothic gait-, ‘goat,’ may have had a graded variant *gitô-, by metathesis *tigô-. The latter form must also have been current in pre-historic times, as is proved by the Anglo-Saxon diminutive tiččen, equivalent to Old High German zicchî (see Zicke), and the form kittîn, obtained by metathesis, equivalent to Old High German chizzî. In East Middle German Hitte and Hippe are used for Ziege; in Alemannian and Bavarian and in Thuringian Ziege is the current term.