Where does “after” come from?
after (Middle English) comes from Old English æfter, from Proto-West Germanic *aftar, from Proto-Germanic after, from Proto-Indo-European h₂epoteros — further behind, further away.
Ancestry of “after”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | æfter | after; according to |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | *aftar | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | after | after, behind |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂epoteros | further behind, further away |
Words derived from “after”