Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Jaw” come from?

Jaw (English) comes from Middle English jowe, from Old French joe, from Vulgar Latin *ga(v)ota.

Ancestry of “Jaw”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishjowe—
2Old Frenchjoecheek
3Vulgar Latin*ga(v)ota—
Every word from Vulgar Latin *ga(v)ota →