An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Espe

by Friedrich Kluge

Espe, feminine, ‘aspen-tree,’ from the equivalentMiddle High German aspe, Old High German aspa (hence Upper German ašpe). Compare the exactly equivalent Anglo-Saxon œsp, English asp, Old Icelandic ǫsp; scarcely allied to Esche; more probably connected with Latin arbor, ‘tree,’ if the latter represents an originally *asbos.