Where does “if” come from?

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

if (Old French): yew; yew wood

Definitions

  1. yew; yew wood

Ancestry of “if”, step by step

if traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Frankish īw

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frankishīw—
2Proto-Germanicīwazyew
3Proto-Germanicīwōyew
4Proto-Indo-European*h₁eyHw-yew

via Vulgar Latin *ivus

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vulgar Latin*ivus—
2Proto-Celticīwosyew

Words derived from “if”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw- →Every word from Proto-Germanic īwō →Every word from Proto-Germanic īwaz →