An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/arg
arg, adjective, ‘bad, severe, hard,’ from Middle High German arc(g), ‘vile, wicked, stingy, avaricious,’ Old High German arg, arag, ‘avaricious, cowardly, vile’; also Old High German arg, Middle High German arc(g) ‘evil, vileness, wickedness.’ Compare Anglo-Saxon earg, adjective, ‘cowardly, slothful’ (no longer found in English), Old Icelandic argr, ‘cowardly, effeminate’ (also ragr). Paul the Deacon cites arga as an abusive term among the Lombards. Through a Gothic *args the Teutonic word may have made its way into Spanish and Finnish; compare Spanish aragan, ‘slothful,’ Finnish arka, ‘cowardly.’ As it is not easy to deduce the meaning ‘cowardly’ from ‘avaricious,’ which appears chiefly in Old High German, we must assume that the root idea of the Teutonic arga- was ‘vile, base,’ of which ‘avaricious’ and ‘cowardly’ would be specialisations resulting from the liberal hospitality and bravery which characterised the Teutons. This word, like almost all words within the ethical sphere, is peculiar to Teutonic; compare arm, böse, gut, übel. —