An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/gebären

by Friedrich Kluge

gebären, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German gëbern, Old High German gibëran, verb, ‘to give birth to’; corresponding to Gothic gubaíran (also baíran), ‘to give birth to, produce,’ Anglo-Saxon gebëran, bëran, strong verb, ‘to give birth to,’ English to bear; in Scandinavian the compounds with ga- are wanting, the simple verb bera, ‘to give birth to’ being used. See Bahre; where proofs are given of the antiquity of the verbal stem ber, pre-Teutonic bher, within the Aryan group; in Indian the root bhṛ, bhar, may mean ‘to bear offspring’ as well as ‘to bear’ generally; compare Latin fertilis, from Latin fero; in Old Irish the substantives combairt and brith, corresponding to Geburt, ‘birth,’ manifest the same specialisation. See Geburt.