Where does “underwear” come from?
Underwear is a formation from Old English under- plus werian, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European roots bʰew- and h₁ésmi meaning "to be" or "to become."
underwear (English): Clothes worn next to the skin, underneath outer...
Definitions
- Clothes worn next to the skin, underneath outer...
Ancestry of “underwear”, step by step
underwear traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Wear
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Wear | The cities of Durham and Sunderland are situated upon its grand banks |
| 2 | Middle English | weren | Plural past indicative form of been; Plural... |
| 3 | Old English | werian | to wear; to defend, protect |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | waʀjan | to clothe |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | warjaną | to ward off, to defend against; to thwart, to... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wēr- | true |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |