An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/halten

by Friedrich Kluge

halten, verb, ‘to hold, support, detain, observe, perform, consider,’ from the equivalent Middle High German halten, Old High German haltan; compare Old Saxon haldan, ‘to preserve, receive, detain as a prisoner, tend (cattle), adhere to, maintain,’ Dutch houden (see haudern), Anglo-Saxon healdan, strong verb, ‘to watch over, lead, possess, rule,’ English to hold; Gothic haldan, reduplicated verb, ‘to graze cattle’; a reduplicated verb common to Teutonic. According to the Old High German variant halthan, haltan points to the normal Gothic form *halþan, which is also supported by Old Swedish halla. The original sense of Old Teutonic haldan is perhaps ‘to keep together by careful watching,’ hence ‘to tend a herd, govern a tribe, rule.’ In the non-Teutonic languages an Aryan root kalt of cognate meaning is not found. If the dental belonged originally to the present stem merely, the word might also be derived from the root kol, and hence connected with Greek βου-κόλος. No relation between haldan and Herde is possible. — Modern High German Halt, masculine, is wanting both in Middle High German and Old High German.