An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/streben

by Friedrich Kluge

streben, verb, ‘to strive, struggle, endeavour,’ from Middle High German strëben, weak verb, ‘to move violently, exert oneself, contend.’ The Old High German strong verb corresponding to the non-recorded weak verb *strëbên would be *strîban (*strîfan?), as is assumed by the Romance loan-words. Compare Old French estriver, ‘to fight, wrestle,’ estrif, ‘contest,’ whence English to strive, strife, are borrowed.