Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “yawn” come from?

Yawn comes from Middle English yenen, from Old English ēanian, from Proto-Germanic ginōną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂egʷnós combined with ḱóm and the suffix -nós.

yawn (English): To open the mouth widely and take a long, rather...

Definitions

  1. To open the mouth widely and take a long, rather...

Ancestry of “yawn”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanJahn—
2GermanJohannespenis; cock
3LatinJohannesJohn
4Ancient GreekἸωάννης—
5HebrewיוחנןYahweh is gracious
6Hebrewחנוןgracious, merciful, compassionate; passive...
7Moroccan Arabicخنونة—
8Arabicخُنَّة—

Words derived from “yawn”

  • yawning
  • yawningly
  • yawner
  • yawneth
  • yawny
  • jawn
  • yawnless
  • yawnily
  • yawnfest
  • yawnable
  • yawnest
  • yawnsome
  • yawniness
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