From Middle High German hōch, from Old High German hōh, from Proto-West Germanic *hauh, from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kewk-, a suffixed form of *kew-. Compare Dutch hoog, Low German hoog, English high, Swedish hög. The irregular declension from the stem hoh- is due to the development of Old High German -h-, which in Middle High German became /x/ in coda position, but /h/ elsewhere (the latter was then gradually lost, starting from the north). Stem alternations of this kind were usually levelled in modern German, as for example in nah (but compare nach), Schuh (Middle High German nāch, schuoch). Most dialects have also levelled hoch, but the standard language has preserved the alternation in this isolated case.

From Middle High German hōch, from Old High German hōh, from Proto-West Germanic *hauh, from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kewk-, a suffixed form of *kew-. Compare Dutch hoog, Low German hoog, English high, Swedish hög. The irregular declension from the stem hoh- is due to the development of Old High German -h-, which in Middle High German became /x/ in coda position, but /h/ elsewhere (the latter was then gradually lost, starting from the north). Stem alternations of this kind were usually levelled in modern German, as for example in nah (but compare nach), Schuh (Middle High German nāch, schuoch). Most dialects have also levelled hoch, but the standard language has preserved the alternation in this isolated case.

See hoch (“high”)