An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/zwar

by Friedrich Kluge

zwar, adv., ‘indeed, truly, of course,’ from MidHG. zwâre, ze wâre, ‘in truth,’ OHG. zi wâre (MidHG. wâr, n., ‘truth,’ an adj. used as a subst.). Connected, like fürwahr (MidHG. vür war, ‘truly), with wahr.