An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wange

by Friedrich Kluge

Wange, feminine, ‘cheek,’ from the equivalent Middle High German wange, Old High German wanga, neuter; Gothic *waggô, neuter, ‘cheek,’ may be inferred from waggareis, ‘pillow.’ Compare Old Saxon wanga, Dutch wang, Anglo-Saxon wǫnge (English wangtooth, ‘jaw- tooth’); the borrowed Italian word guancia, ‘cheek,’ presupposes a term *wankja. The early history of the word is uncertain. Anglo-Saxon wǫng, Old Icelandic vangr, Gothic waggs, ‘field, plain,’ are usually regarded as the nearest cognates, Wange being explained as ‘surface of the face.’ Most of the names for parts of the body have, however, no such origin.