Etymology Explorer › Old English

Where does “gefindan” come from?

gefindan (Old English) comes from Old English ġē, from Proto-Germanic jahw, from Proto-Germanic -hw, from Proto-Germanic -hwe, from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe — and; Forms distributives from interrogatives.

gefindan (Old English): to find, to come upon, to meet with; to find by...

Definitions

  1. to find, to come upon, to meet with; to find by...

Ancestry of “gefindan”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishġēye
2Proto-Germanicjahwand, also
3Proto-Germanic-hwand; Forms distributives from interrogatives
4Proto-Germanic-hwe—
5Proto-Indo-European-kʷeand; Forms distributives from interrogatives
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe →