Where does “wail” come from?
Wail comes from Old Norse val, from Proto-Germanic walō, from Proto-Indo-European welh₁-, a root of uncertain original meaning.
wail (English): To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish; To weep,...
Definitions
- To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish; To weep,...
Ancestry of “wail”, step by step
wail traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German weilen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | weilen | To be, be present somewhere; To linger, spend... |
| 2 | Middle High German | wīlen | formerly |
| 3 | Middle High German | mit | — |
| 4 | Old High German | mit | with |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | midi | with, by, through; along, together; middle, mid |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | midi | with, by, through; along, together |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | meth₂ | with |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | mé | in the middle of, near, by, around, with |