Where does “was” come from?

was (Middle Low German) comes from Old Saxon wahs, from Proto-West Germanic wahs, from Proto-Germanic wahsą, from Proto-Indo-European woḱ-so-.

Ancestry of “was”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Saxonwahs—
2Proto-West Germanicwahs—
3Proto-Germanicwahsąwax
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwoḱ-so-—

Words derived from “was”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European woḱ-so- →Every word from Proto-Germanic wahsą →Every word from Proto-West Germanic wahs →