An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/schweben

by Friedrich Kluge

schweben, verb, ‘to soar, hover,’ from Middle High German swëben, Old High German swëbên, ‘to soar, move to and from in or on water or in the air’; allied to Old Icelandic svífa, ‘to rove, ramble,’ Old High German sweibôn, Middle High German sweiben, ‘to soar. roam.’ The Aryan root swiþ, ‘to move.’ on which these words are based, had also a variant swib preserved in Modern High German schweifen.