An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/währen
währen, verb, ‘to last, continue,’ from the equivalent Middle High German wërn, Old High German wërên, weak verb; allied to Old Saxon warôn, ‘to last.’ The r of these verbs is based on an old s, which leads to a connection with the Aryan root wes, ‘to be’ (compare Wesen). Derivative während, preposition and conjunction, ‘during, pending, whilst,’ properly a participle.