Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “read” come from?

Read comes from Middle English rǣdan, Old English rǣdan, and Proto-Germanic raudaz, which derive from Proto-Indo-European h₁rowdʰós.

read (English): To look at and interpret letters or other...

Definitions

  1. To look at and interpret letters or other...

Ancestry of “read”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishredento counsel, advise; to study; to read
2Old Englishrǣdanto read, interpret; to counsel, advise; plot,...
3Proto-West Germanicrādanto advise, counsel, help; to devise, decide,...
4Proto-Germanicrēdanąto decide, advise
5Proto-Indo-EuropeanHreh₁dʰ-to think; to arrange; to succeed, accomplish
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂reh₁-to think, reason; to arrange
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂er-to fit, to fix, to put together

Words derived from “read”

  • reading
  • readable
  • reread
  • readability
  • unreadable
  • readout
  • unread
  • proofread
  • readest
  • speechreading
  • readme
  • readee
  • readahead
  • readthrough
  • readback
  • unreadability
  • nonreading
  • readableness
  • readably
  • preread
  • lipread
  • underread
  • newsreading
  • unreadably
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂er- →