An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/reißen

by Friedrich Kluge

reißen, verb, ‘to tear, drag; sketch,’ from Middle High German rîȥen, Old High German rîȥan, earlier *wrîȥan, ‘to tear, tear in pieces, scratch, write’; corresponding to Old Saxon wrftan, ‘to tear in pieces, wound, write,’ Anglo-Saxon wrîtan, English to write, Old Icelandic ríta, ‘to write’; Gothic *wreitan, ‘to rend, write,’ is wanting, but is implied by Gothic writs, ‘streak, point.’ The various meanings of the cognates are explained by the manner in which runes were written or scratched on beech twigs. The Teutonic root writ, which has been preserved also in Modern High German Riß, Ritz, ritzen, and reizen, has not yet been found in the non-Teutonic languages.