Where does “hear” come from?
Hear comes from Middle English heren, from Middle English here, from Proto-Germanic hauzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European h₂ḱh₂owsyéti, which is derived from the root h₂eḱ-.
hear (English): To perceive sounds through the ear
Definitions
- To perceive sounds through the ear
Ancestry of “hear”, step by step
hear traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle High German hier
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle High German | hier | — |
| 2 | Old High German | hier | — |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *hēr | here |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hē₂r | here, in this place |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 6 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 7 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 8 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 9 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via Old Frisian hēre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Frisian | hēre | hire |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | hari | army |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | harjaz | army; army leader; commander; warrior |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | kóryos | war; troops; army; war, troops |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |
via Middle English heren
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | heren | to hear; Third-person plural genitive pronoun:... |
| 2 | Old English | hīeran | to hear |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | hauʀijan | to hear |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hauzijaną | to hear |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ḱh₂owsyéti | to be sharp-eared, to hear well |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ṓws | ear |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ew- | to enjoy; to consume; to perceive, see, to be... |