Where does “wa” come from?

wa (Old High German) comes from Proto-West Germanic wai, from Proto-Germanic wai, from Proto-Indo-European wai — oh!; woe!.

Ancestry of “wa”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-West Germanicwaiwoe!, alas!
2Proto-Germanicwaiwoe! alas!
3Proto-Indo-Europeanwaioh!; woe!

Words derived from “wa”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European wai →Every word from Proto-Germanic wai →Every word from Proto-West Germanic wai →