An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/dicht

by Friedrich Kluge

dicht, adj., ‘close, dense,’ dial. deicht (Liv. and Esth.), from MidHG. dîhte, ‘dense.’ The absence of the diphthong is probably due to LG., since the word does not occur in UpGer. (Suab. and Bav.). Corresponds to OIc. þéttr, ‘dense’ (related to Goth. *þeihts, as léttr, ‘light,’ to Goth. leihts); allied to the Teut. root þinh (see gedeihen), just as Goth. leihts to the root ling (see gelingen). E. tight, from MidE. tîht, has an abnormal t for th initially, probably due to the influence of Swed. and Dan. tœt; in MidE. the normal thîht is also found. For another derivation see dick.