Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “grass” come from?

Grass comes from Middle English gras, from Old English gærs, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to grow or spread.

grass (English): Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by...

Definitions

  1. Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by...

Ancestry of “grass”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishgrasA grass; Any plant; especially a herbaceous one;...
2Old Englishgræsgrass
3Proto-West Germanicgrasgrass
4Proto-Germanicgrasągrass
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰreh₁-to become green, grow; to grow; to green, to grow

Words derived from “grass”

  • grassland
  • bluegrass
  • turfgrass
  • seagrass
  • ryegrass
  • lemongrass
  • switchgrass
  • shortgrass
  • tallgrass
  • eelgrass
  • bentgrass
  • crabgrass
  • wheatgrass
  • sawgrass
  • grassroot
  • sweetgrass
  • cordgrass
  • grassless
  • cheatgrass
  • bunchgrass
  • grassplot
  • grassing
  • grasslike
  • bromegrass
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰreh₁- →