Etymology Explorer › Middle Dutch

Where does “graven” come from?

graven (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch gravan, from Proto-West Germanic graban, from Proto-Germanic grabaną, from Proto-Indo-European gʰrābʰ- — to dig, scratch, scrape.

Ancestry of “graven”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Dutchgravanto dig
2Proto-West Germanicgrabanto dig; to engrave
3Proto-Germanicgrabanąto dig; to engrave, scratch
4Proto-Indo-Europeangʰrābʰ-to dig, scratch, scrape

Words derived from “graven”

  • graven
  • ingraven
  • uitgraven
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʰrābʰ- →