Where does “was” come from?

was (Dutch) comes from Middle Dutch was, from Middle Dutch wassen, from Old Dutch wassan, from Proto-West Germanic wahsan, from Proto-Germanic wahsijaną, from Indo-European *h₂weks-.

was (Dutch): laundry, clothes that need to be washed, or just...

Definitions

  1. laundry, clothes that need to be washed, or just...

Ancestry of “was”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Dutchwasfirst/third-person singular past indicative of...
2Middle Dutchwassento grow, to wax; to increase
3Old Dutchwassanto grow, to wax; to rise in level
4Proto-West Germanicwahsanto grow
5Proto-Germanicwahsijanąto grow
6Indo-European*h₂weks-—

Words derived from “was”

Every word from Indo-European *h₂weks- →Every word from Proto-Germanic wahsijaną →Every word from Proto-West Germanic wahsan →