An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Wasser

by Friedrich Kluge

Wasser, n., ‘water,’ from the equiv. MidHG. waȥȥer, OHG. waȥȥar; comp. OSax. watar, Du. water, AS. wœter, E. water; beside these West Teut. forms in r (watar-o-) are found the forms in n, Goth. watô, OIc. vatn, n., ‘water.’ The root wat is related by gradation to ut in Otter, and to wêt in AS. wœ̂t, E. wet, North Fris. wiat, ‘damp, wet.’ The other Aryan languages have also corresponding graded forms with the same signification; Aryan ud in Gr. ὕδωρ (Lat. unda?), OSlov. voda, Sans. udán, ‘water, billow,’ udrín, ‘abounding in water, and also the root ud, ‘to moisten’ (with which the cognates of ModHG. waschen are connected?). Hence the Aryan root is ū̆d, wē̆d, wō̆d. The Aryan word corresponding to Lat. aqua assumed in Teut. (Goth. ahwa) the meaning ‘river.’ See Au.