An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Woge

by Friedrich Kluge

Woge, f. (with MidG. ô for â, as in Odem, Schlot, Rot, &c.), ‘wave, billow,’ from MidHG. wâc (g), OHG. wâg, n., ‘water in commotion, flood, billow, stream, river, sea’; comp. OSax. wâg, AS. wœ̂g, Goth. wégs, ‘billow, flood.’ From OHG. is derived Fr. vague. Teut. wêgo-, wêgi-, from pre-Teut. wêgho-, wêghi-, is connected with the Aryan root wē̆gh, ‘to move’; hence Woge, lit. ‘motion, that which is moved.’