An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/aber

by Friedrich Kluge

aber, adv. and conj., ‘but, however,’ from MidHG. aber (aver), abe (ave), adv. and conj., ‘again, once more, on the contrary, but’; OHG. abur, avar, adv. and conj. with both meanings; to this OHG. avarôn. ‘to repeat,’ ModHG. (UpG.) äfern is allied. Comp. Goth. afar, prep., ‘after,’ adv., ‘afterwards,’ OIc. afar, ‘very,’ in compounds; the word does not occur in Sax. dialects, but its deriv. OSax. aƀaro, AS. eafora, ‘descendant’ (comp. Goth. afar, ‘afterwards’), exists. It is probably related to ab and its cognates; comp. further Sans. ápara, ‘the later,’ aparám, adv., ‘latterly, in future,’ aparī̆, ‘future.’

aber, äber, adj., (UpG.), äfer (Franc), ‘free from snow, laid bare’; from the prim. form *âbar, âbiri (âfiri); orig. cognate with Lat. apricus, ‘sunny.’