An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Fieber

by Friedrich Kluge

Fieber, n., ‘fever,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vieber, OHG. fiebar, n.; from Lat.-Romance febris, with a change of gender as in AS. fêfor, n., equiv. to E. fever; OHG. and MidHG. ie for e, as in Brief, Ziegel, Spiegel, Priester; so too ModHG. Bieber-, MidHG. biever, from vieber, with an interchange of consonants, as in Essig and Kabeljau.