An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/schwenken

by Friedrich Kluge

schwenken, verb, ‘to swing, wave to and fro, brandish,’ from Middle High German swęnken, ‘to swing, hurl, roam, soar,’ Old High German swęnchen, ‘to strike’; compare Dutch zwenken, ‘to swing,’ Anglo-Saxon swęnčęan, ‘to strike, worry,’ and allied to the root swink, swing, in schwingen; compare klingen with regard to the change of k to g at the end of the root.