An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/begehren

by Friedrich Kluge

begehren, vb., ‘to desire, crave, request, from the equiv. MidHG. begërn, chiefly in the simple form gërn, OHG. gërôn; the r probably belongs to the stem, because gern as a no-partic. points in that direction; comp. gern, Gier.