Where does “tear” come from?
tear (Middle English) comes from Old English teagor, from Proto-West Germanic tah(h)r, from Proto-Germanic tahrą, from Proto-Indo-European dáḱru-, from Proto-Indo-European dr̥ḱ-h₂eḱru- — eye bitter.
tear (Middle English): Alternative form of tere
Ancestry of “tear”, step by step