An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Weide

by Friedrich Kluge

Weide (1.), f., ‘willow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wîde, OHG. wîda, f.; comp. OIc. vîðer, AS. wîðig, E. withy (isolated MidG. and LG. dialects seem to lengthen the old ĭ in the accented syllable). Prehistoric wī̆t-, ‘willow,’ is indicated also by the equiv. Gr. ἱτέα and Lit. żilwytis, ‘grey willow.’ An Aryan root wī̆, ‘pliant, capable of being twisted,’ has been assumed, and the word compared also with Lat. vîtis, ‘vine, tendril,’ OSlov. viti (Lith. výti), ‘to turn, plait.’

Weide (2.), f., ‘pasture, pasture-land, from MidHG. weide, OHG. weida, f., ‘fodder, food, place for grazing, the search for food and fodder (chase, fishing).’ Allied to OIc. veiðr, ‘chase, fishing,’ AS. wâð, ‘chase,’ and also to ModHG. weiden, ‘to graze, pasture,’ MidHG. weiden, OHG. weidôn, ‘to forage’; MidHG. wiedeman, ‘hunter,’ ModHG. Waidmann (comp. the proper name Weidmann with Jäger, and also Weidner, from MidHG. weidenœre, ‘hunter, sportsman’). If the cognates be traced back to a root wai, ‘to forage,’ Lat. vê-nâri, ‘to chase, hunt,’ may be connected with it; comp. also the Sans. root vî, ‘to fly at, attack something, take food.’ Comp. farther Eingeweide, to which ModHG., ausweiden is allied.