Where does “woke” come from?
Woke is the past participle of English wake, which derives from Old English wacu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European weǵ-, a root meaning to be awake or lively.
woke (English): Awake: conscious and not asleep; Alert, aware of...
Definitions
- Awake: conscious and not asleep; Alert, aware of...
Ancestry of “woke”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | woken up | past participle of wake up |
| 2 | English | wake up | To awake; To awaken somebody; To become more... |
| 3 | English | wake | To stop sleeping; To make somebody stop sleeping;... |
| 4 | Middle English | wake | Alternative form of woke |
| 5 | Old English | wacu | wake, watch |
| 6 | Old English | ford | ford |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | furdu | ford |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | furduz | ford |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pértus | crossing |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “woke”