An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Leinwand

by Friedrich Kluge

Leinwand, feminine, is a Modern High German corruption of Middle High German lînwât, feminine, ‘linen,’ connecting it with High German Gewand. The old wât (Old High German and Middle High German) has become obsolete in Modern High German; like Anglo-Saxon wœ̂d, ‘garment,’ it is allied to a lost Aryan root, wê, ‘to weave.’