Where does “oof” come from?

oof (Middle English) comes from Old English ōwef, from Old English wef, from Middle English weven, from Old English wefan, from Proto-West Germanic weban, from Proto-Germanic webaną, from Proto-Indo-European webʰ- — to weave, braid.

Ancestry of “oof”, step by step

oof traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old English ōwef

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishōwef—
2Old Englishwefweb
3Middle EnglishwevenTo weave; to perform or do some weaving; To...
4Old Englishwefanto weave
5Proto-West Germanicwebanto weave
6Proto-Germanicwebanąto weave
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwebʰ-to weave, braid

via Old English āwef

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishāwef—
2Old Englishō-on
Every word from Proto-Indo-European webʰ- →Every word from Proto-Germanic webaną →Every word from Proto-West Germanic weban →