An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/deutsch
deutsch, adjective, ‘German,’ from the equivalent Middle High German diutsch, tiutsch; the initial d of the Modern High German and Middle High German words is Middle German, the earlier form, teutsch (Middle High German tiutsch), is Upper German, and was, especially by the UpGer. writers, constantly used till the end of the last century. Old High German diutisk (for Middle Latin theodiscus, the earliest records of the word are in the years 813, 842, 860), ‘German,’ properly only ‘pertaining to the people’ (Old Saxon thiudisca liudi, ‘Teutons’); Gothic preserves the corresponding þiudiskô, adverb, in the sense of ‘like a heathen’ (in close connection with Greek ξθγικώς). The suffix isk denotes ‘pertaining to.’ The substantive Middle High German diet, Old High German diot, diota, ‘people,’ upon which this word is based, is preserved in such compound proper names as Dietrich, Detlef, Detmold, Detmar; as an independent word it is also obsolete in English; Anglo-Saxon þeód; Gothic þiuda, feminine. The Old Teutonic substantive is based upon a word — pre-Teutonic teutâ, ‘people’ — found in many West Aryan languages; compare Lithuanian tautà, feminine, ‘country,’ Lettic tauta, ‘people, nation’; Old Irish túath, ‘people’; Oscan touto, ‘people’ (Livy calls the chief magistrate of the Campanian towns ‘medix tuticus’). Thus the word deutsch has a singular and comprehensive history; it was used in the earliest Old High German and Middle Latin writings only of the language (since 845 A.D. Theodisci occurs also as the name of a people, and first of all in Italy); deutsch, ‘popular,’ was the term applied to the native language in contrast to the Latin ecclesiastical speech and the Latin official phraseology. We may note English Dutch, because it is restricted to the language of Holland; till about 1600 A.D. the people of Holland were convinced that their language was German.