An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/schweben

by Friedrich Kluge

schweben, vb., ‘to soar, hover,’ from MidHG. swëben, OHG. swëbên, ‘to soar, move to and from in or on water or in the air’; allied to OIc. svífa, ‘to rove, ramble,’ OHG. sweibôn, MidHG. sweiben, ‘to soar. roam.’ The Aryan root swiþ, ‘to move.’ on which these words are based, had also a variant swib preserved in ModHG. schweifen.