Where does “grope” come from?

grope (Middle English) comes from Old English grōp, from Proto-Germanic grōpō, from Proto-Indo-European gʰreb-.

Ancestry of “grope”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishgrōpa ditch, drain; ditch
2Proto-Germanicgrōpōfurrow, ditch, trench
3Proto-Indo-Europeangʰreb-—

Words derived from “grope”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʰreb- →Every word from Proto-Germanic grōpō →Every word from Old English grōp →
grope — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer