Etymology Explorer › Old English

Where does “ears” come from?

ears (Old English) comes from Proto-West Germanic ars, from Proto-Germanic arsaz, from Proto-Indo-European h₁orsos — arse.

ears (Old English): butt, arse

Definitions

  1. butt, arse

Ancestry of “ears”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-West Germanicarsarse, anus, buttocks
2Proto-Germanicarsazarse/ass, anus, buttocks
3Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁orsosarse

Words derived from “ears”

  • bottle
  • hers
  • Aristotle
  • bottled
  • bottleneck
  • hearse
  • arse
  • bottling
  • bottlenose
  • bluebottle
  • bottlebrush
  • bottleful
  • bottlenosed
  • Aristotlean
  • bottlo
  • bottlewasher
  • greenbottle
  • rebottle
  • bottleholder
  • hearselike
  • arsey
  • bottlecap
  • bottlehead
  • bottlelike
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁orsos →