wave

wave · verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*webʰ-“to move to and from, wander”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wabōną
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wabōn
4. Old English · inherited fromwafian“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”
5. Middle English · inherited fromwaven
6. English todaywave

From Middle English waven, from Old English wafian (“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”), from Proto-West Germanic *wabōn, from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to wander, sway”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to move to and from, wander”). Cognate with Middle High German waben (“to wave”), German wabern (“to waft”), Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”). See also waver.

wave · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*weǵʰ-“to drag, carry”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wēgaz“motion, storm, wave”
3. Old English · inherited fromwǣg“a wave, billow, motion, water, flood, sea”
4. Middle English · inherited fromwawe
5. Middle English · inherited from*wave
6. English todaywave

From Middle English *wave, partially from waven (“to fluctuate, wave”) (see above) and partially from Middle English wawe, waghe (“wave”), from Old English wǣg (“a wave, billow, motion, water, flood, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz (“motion, storm, wave”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to drag, carry”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian waag (“wave”), West Frisian weach (“wave”), Dutch waag (“wave”), German Woge, Wooge (“wave”), Danish vove, våg (“wave”), Faroese vágur (“bay”), Icelandic vogur (“bay”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish våg (“wave”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌲𐍃 (wēgs, “wave”), French vague (“wave”) (from Old Norse vágr (“ocean, sea; wave”)). See also waw.

wave · verb³

See waive.

Words from the same roots