Where does “grab” come from?

Grab comes from Middle Dutch grabben, whose ultimate origin and earliest meaning remain uncertain.

grab (English): To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch; To make a...

Definitions

  1. To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch; To make a...

Ancestry of “grab”, step by step

grab traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Dutch grabben

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Dutchgrabben—
2Old Saxongravanto dig
3Proto-West Germanicgrabanto dig; to engrave
4Proto-Germanicgrabanąto dig; to engrave, scratch
5Proto-Indo-Europeangʰrābʰ-to dig, scratch, scrape

via Arabic غُرَاب

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Arabicغُرَابraven, crow

Words derived from “grab”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʰrābʰ- →Every word from Proto-Germanic grabaną →Every word from Proto-West Germanic graban →