An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/wahr

by Friedrich Kluge

wahr, adj., ‘true, real, genuine,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wâr (also MidHG. wœre, OHG. wâri); corresponding to OSax. wâr, Du. waar, ‘true.’ A genuine Teut. word, found only in a few languages; Lat. vêrus, OIr. fír, ‘true’ (and also OSlov. věru, ‘belief’), are primitively allied to it; its primit. meaning has not been discovered. In Goth., only *tuzwêrs, ‘doubtful,’ appears to be cognate; but Goth. unwêrs, ‘indignant,’ OHG. mitiwâri, ‘mild,’ probably belong to another class. The word for ‘true’ in Goth. is sunjis, in AS., sôþ, which are related to ModHG. sein, Aryan root es; ‘the true’ is thus ‘the existent,’ which suggests a connection between Lat. vêrus, equiv. to Teut. wêro-, through the medium of a prehistoric form, *wes-ró-, with the Aryan root wes, ‘to be’ (see Wesen).