From Middle High German ëber, from Old High German ebur, from Proto-West Germanic *ebur, from Proto-Germanic *eburaz, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-r-.
Cognate with Dutch ever, Latin aper, Serbo-Croatian vepar. Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not related to obsolete dialectal Bär (“boar”) (which see), nor to Bär (“bear”).