Where does “wake” come from?

wake (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Norse vǫk, from Proto-Germanic wakwō, from Proto-Indo-European wegʷ- — wet, moist.

Ancestry of “wake”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Norsevǫka hole in the ice, a polynya
2Proto-Germanicwakwōa hole in the water, a polynya
3Proto-Indo-Europeanwegʷ-wet, moist

Words derived from “wake”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European wegʷ- →