Etymology
1. O.E.
wadan "to go forward, proceed," in poetic use only, except as
oferwaden "wade across," from P.Gmc.
*wadan (cf. O.N.
vaða, Dan.
vade, O.Fris.
wada, Du.
waden, O.H.G.
watan, Ger.
waten "to wade"), from PIE base
*wadh- "to go," found only in Gmc. and L. (cf. L.
vadere "to go,"
vadum "shoal, ford,"
vadare "to wade"). The notion is of "to advance into water." It.
guado, Fr.
gué "ford" are Gmc. loan-words. Originally a strong verb (p.t.
wod, pp.
wad); weak since 16c. Fig. sense of "to go into" (action, battle, etc.) is recorded from c.1374.
Waders "waterproof high boots" is from 1841.
2. From Middle English waden, from Old English wadan, from Proto-West Germanic *wadan, from Proto-Germanic *wadaną (“to go, pass through”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- (“to go”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian waadje (“to wade”), West Frisian wâdzje (“to wade”), Dutch waden (“to wade”), German Low German waden (“to wade”), German waten (“to wade”), Danish vade (“to wade”), Swedish vada (“to wade”), Icelandic vaða (“to wade”), and Latin vādō (“go, walk; rush”). See: Middle English '
waden', Old English '
wadan', Proto-Germanic '
*wadaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'waadje', Dutch '
waden', German, old spelling '
waten', Danish '
vade', Swedish '
vada', Icelandic '
vaða', Latin '
vādō'.
Verbs referencing "wade"
Latin
vado, Ido vadar, German, Pennsylvania
waade.