An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/gönnen

by Friedrich Kluge

gönnen, vb., ‘to grant, not to begrudge, wish well to,’ from MidHG. gunnen, OHG. giunnan, ‘to grant willingly, bestow, allow’; OHG. and OSax. mostly unnan, in the same sense (in OHG. and MidHG. pret.-pres.); comp. Du. gunnen, AS. unnan, OIc. unna, The root is an; whether this is allied to Lat. amare, ‘to love,’ or to Gr. ὀνίνημι, ‘I use,’ or to the cognates of ahnden, is uncertain on account of its meaning; most probably Gr. προσ-ηνής, ‘inclined,’ and ἀπηνής ‘disaffected,’ are allied primitively. Comp. Gunst.