Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “begay” come from?

begay (English) comes from English Gay, from English Queen, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene, from Old English cwēn, from Proto-West Germanic kwāni, from Proto-Germanic kwēniz, from Proto-Indo-European gʷḗn — woman.

begay (English): To make cheerful or merry

Definitions

  1. To make cheerful or merry

Ancestry of “begay”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishGay—
2EnglishQueen—
3Middle EnglishqueneA queen; Any powerful woman noble; A female...
4Old Englishcwenea woman; inflection of cwēn: ##...
5Old Englishcwēnqueen; woman, wife, queen
6Proto-West Germanickwāniwoman, wife
7Proto-Germanickwēnizwife
8Proto-Indo-Europeangʷḗnwoman
9Proto-Indo-Europeangʷen-woman
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷen- →