An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wechsel

by Friedrich Kluge

Wechsel, masculine, ‘change, vicissitude,’ from Middle High German wëhsel, Old High German wëhsal, masculine, ‘change, barter, exchange, trade’; corresponding to Old Saxon wëhsal, ‘trade, money,’ Dutch wissel. A specifically German derivative with the suffix -sla, from the same root as Latin vī̆ces, ‘variation, alternation.’ The Aryan root wī̆k (Latin vī̆c-) appears to have had a variant wī̆g, which occurs in Woche and weihen. For Anglo-Saxon wrîxl see Wasen.