An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wagen

by Friedrich Kluge

Wagen, masculine, ‘vehicle, carriage, waggon,’ from the equivalent Middle High German wagen, Old High German wagan, masculine; corresponding to the equivalent Dutch wagen, Anglo-Saxon wœgn, English wain, Old Icelandic vagn, ‘waggon.’ Based on the Teutonic root wëg (see Weg); from the corresponding Aryan root wëgh, wogh, ‘to drag, drive,’ are derived Greek ἄχος, Latin vehiculum, Old Icelandic fén, ‘waggon.’ The Aryan words Rad and Nabe show that vehicles were used in primitive times; for the Aryan root wegh, ‘to drag, to move on,’ see wegen. —