An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/reichen

by Friedrich Kluge

reichen, verb, ‘to reach, extend, suffice,’ from Middle High German ‘to arrive at, attain, proffer. suffice, extend,’ Old High German reihhen, ‘to proffer, extend’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon rœ̂čan (from *raikjan), and the equivalent English to reach. Its connection with Gothic rakjan, ‘to reach,’ rahtôn, ‘to proffer,’ is not probable, for phonetic reasons; and on account of its meaning, the word can scarcely be related to the cognates of *rîk, ‘ruler,’ mentioned under Reich.