Where does “if” come from?

if (Norman) comes from Old French if, from Frankish īw, from Proto-Germanic īwaz, from Proto-Germanic īwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw- — yew.

if (Norman): yew

Definitions

  1. yew

Ancestry of “if”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchifyew; yew wood
2Frankishīw—
3Proto-Germanicīwazyew
4Proto-Germanicīwōyew
5Proto-Indo-European*h₁eyHw-yew
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw- →Every word from Proto-Germanic īwō →Every word from Proto-Germanic īwaz →