Where does “ew” come from?
ew (Middle English) comes from Old English īw, from Proto-Germanic īwaz, from Proto-Germanic īwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw-.
ew (Middle English): yew; yew wood
Ancestry of “ew”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | īw | — |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | īwaz | yew |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | īwō | yew |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | *h₁eyHw- | — |