Etymology

PGmc *weƀan- ‘to weave’ is a class V st. v. in WGmc, and the OE wefan accordingly has a pp (ge)wefen (cp. OHG weban, MLG weven).  To explain ME pp. variants in <o>, MED therefore adduces influence from the ON cognate, cp. OIcel vefa, a str. IV v. with pp ofinn (< *vofinn < *wuƀan-); which would also account for ME pret. forms in <o> and <a> by ON pret. pl. váfum, ófum (< *vófum).  This influence would have to take the form of transfer to a class IV conjugation type on the model of the ON v. rather than direct loan (a VAN pp. would already have lacked initial /w/), and all other authorities are content to explain the change as owing to internal analogical processes (thus e.g. OED, TGD, GDS) 

PGmc Ancestor

*weƀan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

vefa 'to weave'
(ONP vefa (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far veva, Icel vefa, Norw veva, Dan væve, Sw väva

OE Cognate

wefan 'to weave'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

CCC1

Attestation

The pp. <o> in is commonplace from late ME.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 2358

Bibliography

MED wēven (v.1) , OED weave (v.1) , HTOED , Dance wouen, de Vries vefa, Mag. vefa, Bj-L. veve, Seebold web-a-, Orel *weƀanan, Kroonen *weban-, AEW wefan