An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/henken

by Friedrich Kluge

henken, verb, ‘to hang, suspend,’ from Middle High German and Old High German hęnken, properly a variant of Old High German and Middle High German hęngen (k is Gothic gj). To these two words, varying in sound, different meanings were attached; compare Middle High German hęnken, ‘to hang up,’ hęngen, ‘to hang down (one's head),’ especially ‘to give a horse the reins.’ Yet Middle High German hęngen is also used in the sense of hęnken, ‘to execute by hanging.’