An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Pacht

by Friedrich Kluge

Pacht, f., ‘compact, lease, tenure,’ from MidHG. (MidG.) paht, with the strictly permutated and more usual forms phaht, phahte (MidHG.), f. and m., ‘rent, lease, justice, law’; so too Du. pacht. The ModHG. form is due to LG. influence, as is indicated by the initial sound compared with MidHG. phahte. It is based on MidLat. pactum, pactus, ‘compact, a sum stipulated by the compact.’ OHG. *pfahta is not recorded, probably only by chance, though OHG. (also MidHG.) pfât occurs a few times.