Wharf
late Old English hwearf, of Germanic origin.
wiktionary
From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf(“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan(“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb(“a turn”), hwerban(“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf(“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός(karpós, “wrist”).
etymonline
wharf (n.)
late Old English hwearf "shore, bank where ships can tie up," earlier "dam, embankment," from Proto-Germanic *hwarfaz (source also of Middle Low German werf "mole, dam, wharf," German Werft "shipyard, dockyard"); related to Old English hwearfian "to turn," perhaps in a sense implying "busy activity," from PIE root *kwerp- "to turn, revolve" (source also of Old Norse hverfa "to turn round," German werben "to enlist, solicit, court, woo," Gothic hvairban "to wander," Greek karpos "wrist," Sanskrit surpam "winnowing fan"). Wharf rat is from 1812 as "type of rat common on ships and docks;" extended sense "person who hangs around docks" is recorded from 1836.
