An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/nähen

by Friedrich Kluge

nähen, vb., ‘to sew, stitch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nœjen, OHG. nâjan; corresponding only to Du. naaijen; Goth. *naian is wanting, neither is the word found in the other Teut. languages. The verbal stem nê contained in nähen was at one time more widely diffused in the Teut. group, as may be inferred from the common Teut. Nadel (nêþlô-); comp. further Naht. In the non-Teut. languages a root nê, ‘to spin,’ is found, which is usually connected with the root of nähen; comp. Lat. neo, Gr. νέω, ‘I spin,’ νῆμα, ‘thread,’ νῆτρον, ‘spindle’; to this is allied a root snâ in OIr. snáthe, ‘thread,’ snâthat, ‘needle’ (comp. Schnur). The cognates were probably borrowed in pre-historic times by one tribe from another (comp. mahlen), so that nähen may not be a genuine Teut. word.