An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/von

by Friedrich Kluge

von, preposition, ‘of, from, concerning,’ from the equivalent Middle High German von, vone (dialectic van), Old High German fona (fana); corresponding to Old Saxon fon, fan, fana, ‘of,’ Dutch van. The pre-Teutonic pana, on which the word is based, is rightly regarded as an extension of the shortened Aryan form apo, which is discussed under ab.