tave

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*tabōną“to grope, feel”
2. Old Norse · derived from*tafa
3. Middle English · inherited fromtaven
4. English todaytave

From Middle English taven, from Old Norse *tafa, from Proto-Germanic *tabōną (“to grope, feel”). Cognate with Faroese tava (“to endeavour, exert oneself”), Norwegian Nynorsk tava (“to toil in vain”), German zabeln (“to move convulsively, sprawl, flounder”).