Where does “wet” come from?

Wet comes from Middle English weten, from Old English witan, from Proto-Indo-European weyd-, meaning to divide or separate.

wet (English): Made up of liquid or moisture, usually water; Of...

Definitions

  1. Made up of liquid or moisture, usually water; Of...

Ancestry of “wet”, step by step

wet traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English wet

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishwetwet, watery; wet, rainy; liquid, fluid
2Middle Englishwetento wet
3Old Englishwǣtanto wet, moisten, water
4Proto-Germanicwētijanąto wet; make wet
5Indo-European*wed-—

via Middle English wett

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishwett—

via Middle English wette

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishwette—

Words derived from “wet”

Every word from Indo-European *wed- →Every word from Proto-Germanic wētijaną →Every word from Old English wǣtan →