Cognate with Latvian vēzis. Further etymology uncertain, though ALEW hints at Sanskrit वाहक (vāhaka, “some poisonous insect”) and Persian گاز (gâz, “tongs, shears”) as possible cognates, in which case, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to go”). However, compare Lithuanian žvėris (“beast”), which could be related if it was from an original stem *vzėris- reduced through metathesis zv → vz.