An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/spinnen

by Friedrich Kluge

spinnen, vb., ‘to spin,’ from the equiv. MidHG. spinnen, OHG. spinnan, str. vb.; common to Teut. in the same sense. Comp. Goth. spinnan, OIc. spinna, AS. spinnan, E. to spin, Du. spinnen. While the cognates of ModHG. weben are common to Teut., those of spinnen have only Lith. pìnti, ‘to plait’ (pántis, ‘cord’), and OSlov. pęti, ‘to stretch,’ connected with them; comp. the pre-Teut. roots pen and spen, which occur also in Fahne. It is also frequently assumed that spinnen and spannen are allied. —