Where does “rūne” come from?

rūne (German) comes from Middle High German rūne, from Old High German rūna, from Proto-West Germanic rūnu, from Proto-Germanic rūnō, from Proto-Celtic rūnā — secret, mystery.

rūne (German): rune letter, or character, belonging to the written language of various ancient Germanic peoples

Definitions

  1. rune letter, or character, belonging to the written language of various ancient Germanic peoples

Ancestry of “rūne”, step by step

rūne traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle High German rūne

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle High Germanrūnewhisper
2Old High Germanrūnasecret, mystery
3Proto-West Germanicrūnusecret, mystery; rune, letter
4Proto-Germanicrūnōsecret, mystery; rune
5Proto-Celticrūnāsecret, mystery

via Old Norse rún

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Norserúnsecret; rune
2Proto-Norseᚱᚢᚾᛟsecret, mystery; rune

Words derived from “rūne”

Every word from Proto-Celtic rūnā →Every word from Proto-Germanic rūnō →Every word from Proto-West Germanic rūnu →