Where does “gnaw” come from?
Gnaw comes from Middle English gnawen, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-Germanic gnaganą, meaning to bite or nibble.
gnaw (English): To bite something persistently, especially...
Definitions
- To bite something persistently, especially...
Ancestry of “gnaw”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | gnawen | To gnaw; to continually bite or chew; To eat or... |
| 2 | Old English | gnagan | to gnaw |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | gnagan | to gnaw |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | gnaganą | to gnaw |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰnēgʰ- | to gnaw, scratch |
Words derived from “gnaw”