Etymology Explorer › German

Where does “zweifeln” come from?

zweifeln (German) comes from Middle High German zwīvelen, from Middle High German zwīvel, from Old High German zwīfal, from Proto-West Germanic twīfl, from Proto-Germanic twīflaz, from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ — two.

zweifeln (German): to doubt, to be doubtful

Definitions

  1. to doubt, to be doubtful

Ancestry of “zweifeln”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle High Germanzwīvelen—
2Middle High Germanzwīvel—
3Old High Germanzwīfaltwo-fold
4Proto-West Germanictwīfldoubt
5Proto-Germanictwīflazdoubt
6Proto-Indo-Europeandwóh₁two

Words derived from “zweifeln”

  • verzweifelt
  • bezweifeln
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ →