An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/weben

by Friedrich Kluge

weben, verb, ‘to weave, entwine, fabricate,’ from Middle High German wëben, Old High German wëban, strong verb, ‘to weave, work, plait, spin’; compare Dutch weven, Anglo-Saxon wëfan, English to weave, and the equivalent Old Icelandic vefa. A widely developed Teutonic and Aryan root (web from Aryan webh), which testifies to the great antiquity of weaving among the Indo-Europeans. Compare the Sanscrit root vabh, ‘to weave,’ in ûrṇavâbhi, ‘spider,’ literally ‘woollen-weaver’ (also ubh, ‘to bind’), Greek ὑφαίνω, ‘to weave,’ ὕφος, ‘web.’ Compare Wabe, Wiebel, and Wespe.