An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Welle

by Friedrich Kluge

Welle, f., ‘wave, billow, swell,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wëlle, OHG. wëlla, f.; a word peculiar to HG., but found, however, in the OTeut. vocabulary. It is primit. allied to the equiv. OSlov. vlŭna, Lith. wilnìs, and is based like these on an Aryan root wel, ‘to turn, roll,’ which appears in OHG. wëllan and wallen. Comp. Lat. volvere, Gr. εἴλύειν, ‘to roll,’ as well as Sans. ûrmi, equiv. to OHG. walm, AS. wylm, ‘billow.’