Where does “Volkswagen” come from?
Volkswagen (German) comes from German wägen, from Middle High German wāgen, from Middle High German wāge, from Middle Low German wāge, from Old Saxon wag, from Proto-West Germanic wāg, from Proto-Germanic wēgaz, from Proto-Indo-European weǵʰ- — to bring; to transport.
Volkswagen (German): A car made by the German car manufacturer
Definitions
- A car made by the German car manufacturer
Ancestry of “Volkswagen”, step by step
Volkswagen traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German wägen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | wägen | to weigh something |
| 2 | Middle High German | wāgen | — |
| 3 | Middle High German | wāge | wave; scale |
| 4 | Middle Low German | wāge | wave |
| 5 | Old Saxon | wag | wave |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | wāg | wave |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | wēgaz | wave; sea |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | weǵʰ- | to bring; to transport |
via German volk
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | volk | people, nation, folk, tribe, race group united by culture, history, descent, and/or language |
| 2 | Middle High German | volc | — |
| 3 | Old High German | folc | folk; people collectively, nation; people, nation |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | folk | people, tribe |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fulką | people; tribe |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |