An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wespe

by Friedrich Kluge

Wespe, feminine, ‘wasp,’ from the equivalent Middle High German węspe, earlier węfse, feminine (masculine), Old High German węfsa (earlier wafsa), feminine; a genuine Teutonic word; compare Anglo-Saxon wœfs, wœps, masculine, English wasp. Hence we must probably assume a Teutonic wafs-, beside which Teutonic wabis-, wabit-, is presupposed by Bavarian wębes, East Thuringian wêpschen, wêwetzchen (in West Thuringian wispel). Aryan wops- (wobhes-), which points to the verbal root weben (see Wiebel), is almost as widely diffused in the Aryan languages as Hornisse; OBret. guohi, ‘wasps’ (from wops-), Lithuanian vapsà, ‘gadfly,’ Old Slovenian vosa, ‘wasp,’ and probably also by gradation Latin vespa. In the Middle High German period a form vespe was borrowed from Latin vespa; on the other hand, French guêpe is probably due on account of its initial sound to German influence.