An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/wegen

by Friedrich Kluge

wegen, prep., ‘on account of, with regard to,’ from the equiv. MidHG. von...wëgen (with intervening genit.); see laut and kraft. — wegen, vb., in bewegen, ‘to move,’ from MidHG. wëgen, OHG. wëgan, str. vb., ‘to move,’ with which the corresponding causative, OHG. węgen, węcken (from *wagjan), ‘to cause to move,’ was confused; corresponding to Goth. gawigan, ‘to move.’ The primary meaning of the widely diffused Aryan root wegh, preserved in Wagen and Weg, was ‘to move on, march, drive, ride,’ from which the signification ‘to carry, move,’ was afterwards developed in Teut. Comp. Sans. root vah ‘to proceed, drive, ride,’ and the equiv. Lat. vehere, OSlov. vesti.