Where does “underwriten” come from?
underwriten (Middle English) comes from Old English underwrītan, from Old English wrītan, from Proto-West Germanic wrītan, from Proto-Germanic wrītaną, from Proto-Indo-European wēr-, from Proto-Indo-European wer- — to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel.
Ancestry of “underwriten”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | underwrītan | to write at the foot of, write under, subscribe |
| 2 | Old English | wrītan | to incise, engrave; to scratch, carve, write; to... |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | wrītan | to scratch, to carve |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wrītaną | to scratch, carve; to engrave, inscribe, write |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wēr- | true |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |