Where does “Zeichen” come from?

Zeichen (German) comes from Middle High German zeichen, from Old High German zeihhan, from Proto-West Germanic taikn, from Proto-Germanic taikną, from Proto-Indo-European deyḱ- — to point out.

Zeichen (German): characters, marks, sign; token

Definitions

  1. characters, marks, sign; token

Ancestry of “Zeichen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle High Germanzeichen—
2Old High Germanzeihhansign, symbol, feature; sign, symbol
3Proto-West Germanictaiknsign, token, symbol
4Proto-Germanictaiknąsign, token, symbol
5Proto-Indo-Europeandeyḱ-to point out

Words derived from “Zeichen”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European deyḱ- →Every word from Proto-Germanic taikną →Every word from Proto-West Germanic taikn →