From PIE *webh- (to weave, move to and fro) — first the hand's motion, transferred to the sea in Middle English.
A ridge of water curling and breaking on the surface of the sea or a lake; a sudden occurrence or increase of a phenomenon.
From Old English 'wafian' (to wave, fluctuate) and the related Middle English noun 'wave,' from Proto-Germanic *wab- (to move back and forth), from PIE *webh- (to weave, to move to and fro). The original Old English word for a sea wave was 'ȳþ' (related to 'water'), and the modern 'wave' only displaced it gradually through the Middle English period — originally describing the motion of the hand before being transferred to the motion of the sea. Key roots: *webh- (Proto-Indo-European: "to weave, to
The Old English word for a sea wave was 'ȳþ' (cognate with 'water'), not 'wave.' The word 'wave' originally described the back-and-forth motion of the hand, and was only transferred to the sea during the Middle English period — we named the ocean's motion after a human gesture, not the other way around.