An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/weben

by Friedrich Kluge

weben, vb., ‘to weave, entwine, fabricate,’ from MidHG. wëben, OHG. wëban, str. vb., ‘to weave, work, plait, spin’; comp. Du. weven, AS. wëfan, E. to weave, and the equiv. OIc. vefa. A widely developed Teut. and Aryan root (web from Aryan webh), which testifies to the great antiquity of weaving among the Indo-Europeans. Comp. the Sans. root vabh, ‘to weave,’ in ûrṇavâbhi, ‘spider,’ lit. ‘woollen-weaver’ (also ubh, ‘to bind’), Gr. ὑφαίνω, ‘to weave,’ ὕφος, ‘web.’ Comp. Wabe, Wiebel, and Wespe.