Where does “guide” come from?
guide (Middle English) comes from Old French guide, from Occitan guida, from Occitan guidar, from Frankish wītan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European wóyde, from Proto-Indo-European weyd- — to see.
Ancestry of “guide”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | guide | a guide |
| 2 | Occitan | guida | — |
| 3 | Occitan | guidar | — |
| 4 | Frankish | wītan | to show the way, lead; to accuse, to blame |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *witaną | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wóyde | to have seen, to know |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | weyd- | to see |
Words derived from “guide”