Etymology Explorer › Old High German

Where does “rūna” come from?

rūna (Old High German) comes from Proto-West Germanic rūnu, from Proto-Germanic rūnō, from Proto-Celtic rūnā — secret, mystery.

rūna (Old High German): secret, mystery

Definitions

  1. secret, mystery

Ancestry of “rūna”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-West Germanicrūnusecret, mystery; rune, letter
2Proto-Germanicrūnōsecret, mystery; rune
3Proto-Celticrūnāsecret, mystery

Words derived from “rūna”

  • руна
  • runisch
  • Rune
  • Runenschrift
  • rune
  • rūne
Every word from Proto-Celtic rūnā →