Where does “feed” come from?
Feed derives from Middle English feede, Old English fēdan, and Proto-Germanic fōdijaną, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root peh₂- meaning to protect or nourish.
feed (English): To give food to eat; To eat; To give to as...
Definitions
- To give food to eat; To eat; To give to as...
Ancestry of “feed”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Galician | feden | third-person plural present indicative of feder |
| 2 | Old English | fēdan | to feed |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *fōdijan | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | fōdijaną | to feed; to give birth |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₂- | to protect; to shepherd |
Words derived from “feed”