Where does “was” come from?
was (Middle Dutch) comes from Middle Dutch wassen, from Old Dutch wassan, from Proto-West Germanic wahsan, from Proto-Germanic wahsijaną, from Indo-European *h₂weks-.
was (Middle Dutch): first/third-person singular past indicative of...
Definitions
- first/third-person singular past indicative of...
Ancestry of “was”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle Dutch | wassen | to grow, to wax; to increase |
| 2 | Old Dutch | wassan | to grow, to wax; to rise in level |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | wahsan | to grow |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wahsijaną | to grow |
| 5 | Indo-European | *h₂weks- | — |