An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/wegen

by Friedrich Kluge

wegen, preposition, ‘on account of, with regard to,’ from the equivalent Middle High German von...wëgen (with intervening genit.); see laut and kraft. — wegen, verb, in bewegen, ‘to move,’ from Middle High German wëgen, Old High German wëgan, strong verb, ‘to move,’ with which the corresponding causative, Old High German węgen, węcken (from *wagjan), ‘to cause to move,’ was confused; corresponding to Gothic gawigan, ‘to move.’ The primary meaning of the widely diffused Aryan root wegh, preserved in Wagen and Weg, was ‘to move on, march, drive, ride,’ from which the signification ‘to carry, move,’ was afterwards developed in Teutonic. Compare Sanscrit root vah ‘to proceed, drive, ride,’ and the equivalent Latin vehere, Old Slovenian vesti.