From Proto-Germanic*wiΓΎrΔ , more specifically from the compound form *wiΓΎra-, which seems to have analogically replaced the form of the preposition. Cognate to German widerβ(βagainstβ), Dutch weerβ(βagainβ), English witherβ(βagainstβ), Old Norse viΓ°rβ(βagainstβ).