Etymology Explorer › German

Where does “Hilfsverb” come from?

Hilfsverb (German) comes from German Hilfe, from Middle High German hilfe, from Old High German hilfa, from Proto-Germanic hilpiz, from Proto-Germanic helpaną, from Proto-Indo-European ḱelb- — help.

Hilfsverb (German): auxiliary verb, helping verb

Definitions

  1. auxiliary verb, helping verb

Ancestry of “Hilfsverb”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanHilfehelp
2Middle High Germanhilfe—
3Old High Germanhilfa—
4Proto-Germanichilpizhelp
5Proto-Germanichelpanąto help
6Proto-Indo-Europeanḱelb-help
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱelb- →