An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Welf

by Friedrich Kluge

Welf, masculine, ‘whelp, cub,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German wëlf (earlier hwëlf, masculine and neuter); corresponding to Old Icelandic hvelpr, Anglo-Saxon hwëlp (English whelp). This Teutonic word hwelpo-, which was used at an early period, especially of ‘cubs,’ has no cognates in the non-Teutonic languages. Wolf is not allied.