Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “thirst” come from?

thirst (Middle English) comes from Old English þurst, from Proto-West Germanic þurstu, from Germanic *þurstuz, from Proto-Indo-European ters- — dry.

Ancestry of “thirst”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishþurstthirst
2Proto-West Germanicþurstuthirst
3Germanic*þurstuz—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanters-dry

Words derived from “thirst”

  • thirst
  • thirsteth
  • bloodthirst
  • thirstless
  • thirster
  • thirstest
  • thirstland
  • thirstful
  • bloodthirster
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ters- →