Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “ebbe” come from?

ebbe (Middle English) comes from Old English ebba, from Proto-Germanic abjǭ, from Proto-Indo-European h₂epó — off, away.

Ancestry of “ebbe”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishebbaebb, tide
2Proto-Germanicabjǭebb
3Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂epóoff, away

Words derived from “ebbe”

  • ebb
  • ebbing
  • ebbeth
  • unebbing
  • ebi
  • ebe
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂epó →