Where does “woe” come from?
woe (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch wuo, from Proto-Germanic hwō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís.
woe (Middle Dutch): Alternative form of hoe
Ancestry of “woe”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Dutch | wuo | — |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | hwō | how, with what, by what means; instrumental of... |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | *kʷís | — |