An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Eber

by Friedrich Kluge

Eber, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German ëber, Old High German ëbar, masculine, ‘wild boar’; corresponds to Anglo-Saxon eofor, masculine, ‘wild boar’ (English York from Anglo-Saxon Eoforwic, literally ‘boar-town’), Old Icelandic jǫfurr, ‘wild boar,’ figuratively ‘prince’ (also jórbjúga, ‘a kind of sausage’); Gothic *ibrus, *ibarus. With the pre-Teutonic base eprús some have connected Old Bulgarian veprĭ, masculine, Latin aper, masculine, ‘wild boar.’ Similarly in the terms for Ferkel and Schwein, the West Aryan languages only partially agree.