An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/weifen

by Friedrich Kluge

weifen, vb., ‘to wind, reel,’ from MidHG. weifen, wk. vb., ‘to swing, wind on a reel,’ a factitive of MidHG. wîfen, str. vb., ‘to swing, wind.’ It is based on a Teut. root wī̆p, ‘to turn,’ which appears also in Goth. weipan, ‘to wreathe’ (waips, ‘wreath’); with this root Lat. vibrare, ‘to brandish, vibrate,’ is primit. cognate. Allied to Wipfel and Wimpel.