An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/beilen

by Friedrich Kluge

beilen, verb, ‘to bring deer to a stand by baying,’ formed from Middle High German and Old High German bîl, ‘the moment when the deer stands at bay; encircling by the baying hounds’; Middle High German bîlen, ‘to bring to a stand by baying,’ intransitive ‘to bark’. No kinship with bellen can be proved; it is more probably connected with the root bî in beben (for a derivative in l from the latter word compare Lettic baile, ‘fear,’ bailùs, ‘timid,’ Sanscrit bltrú, ‘timid’, Sanscrit bhîrú, ‘timid’). In that case Middle High German and Old High German bî-l would be literally ‘time of fear.’