An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Habicht

by Friedrich Kluge

Habicht, m. (with a dental suffix as in Hüste and Mond, &c.), ‘hawk,’ from the equiv. MidHG. habich, habech (also hebech, modified), m., OHG. habuh, m.; a common Teut. term by chance not recorded in Goth.; comp. OSax. *haƀoc (in the proper names Haƀuchorst, Haƀocasbrôc), Du. havik, AS. heafoc, E. hawk, OIc. haukr (for *hǫƀukr). The Goth. form would be *habaks, with a suffix aks-, as in ahaks, ‘pigeon’ (comp. also Kranich, Lerche); comp. the consonantal suffix in Gr. ὀρτυγ-, ‘quail.’ Against the derivation from the stem hab, haf, in heben, orig., ‘to take firm hold of, lay hold of’ there is nothing to object from the Teut. point of view; Italic capus, ‘hawk,’ is certainly derived from the root kap (capio). The Kelt. cognates, W. hebauc, OIr. sebocc, ‘falcon,’ are undoubtedly borrowed from Teut. Comp. also Falke.