wail

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy.

The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14th c.. The noun came from the verb.

From Old Norse val (“choice”). Compare Icelandic velja (“to choose”). More at wale.