Etymograph

English

waver

Waver comes from Middle English waveren ‘to move back and forth, swing’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- ‘to weave, braid’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*webʰ-‘to weave, braid’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350vafra
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500waveren‘to move back and forth, swing’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1523waver

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*webʰ-‘to weave, braid’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350vafra
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500waveren‘to move back and forth, swing’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1523waver

Earliest quotation: 1523, Johan Froyssart [i.e.: “There was neuer ſuche aſſemble made in Bretayne before⸝…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- ‘to weave, braid’

web, whiff, woof, waffle, wasp, weave, weft, 5 more

Another origin of waver

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyp-‘to vibrate, tremble, oscillate’root as named
  2. English1500–presentwaive‘(obsolete) to disregard, overlook’uncertain
  3. Englishtodaywaver

According to the Oxford English Dictionary the early forms waiver, wayver, weaver indicate that the word is probably not derived from wave (verb).

Today it means

verb To swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- / waver

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