An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/wett

by Friedrich Kluge

wett, adj., ‘equal, even,’ from late MidHG. wętte, adj., ‘paid off.’ A recent derivative of the noun Wette, f., ‘bet, wager,’ MidHG. wętte, węte, węt (tt), n. and f., OHG. wętti, węti, n., ‘mortgage contract, legal obligation, pledge, stake (in a bet), compensation, fine’ (the last three meanings first occur in MidHG.). Comp. AS. wędd, OIc. veð, Goth. wadi, n., ‘pledge, earnest.’ From OTeut. wadjo-, the Romance cognates, Ital. gaggio and Fr. gage, ‘pledge,’ are borrowed. The following are also primit. allied to Teut. Wette; Lat. văs (vadis), ‘surety,’ vădimonium, ‘bail, security,’ Lith. vadůti, ‘to redeem a pledge,’ and perhaps also Gr. ἄεθλος (root ϝεθ), ‘prize (of contest),’ which point to an Aryan root wedh.