An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/waten

by Friedrich Kluge

waten, vb., ‘to wade,’ from MidHG. waten, OHG. watan, str. vb., ‘to wade, go, stride'; a common Teut. word; comp. Du. waden, AS. wadan, E. to wade, OIc. vaða, ‘to wade, press forwards’ (especially in water). The borrowed Ital. term guadare has the same meaning, ‘to walk through water'; on the OIc. noun vað, ‘ford,’ and the equiv. Du. wadde, are based Ital. guado, Fr. gué, ‘ford, shallow part of a river'; comp. Weed. The Teut. root wad, ‘to stride, wade,’ is identical with the primit. cognate Lat. vâdere, ‘to wade, ford,’ to which Lat. vǎdum, ‘ford,’ is allied. The Aryan root wā̆dh has not been preserved in other languages.