Where does “hwal” come from?

hwal (Old Saxon) comes from Proto-West Germanic hwal, from Proto-Germanic hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kʷálos — large fish; sheatfish.

hwal (Old Saxon): a whale

Definitions

  1. a whale

Ancestry of “hwal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-West Germanichwalwhale
2Proto-Germanichwalazwhale, sheatfish
3Proto-Indo-European(s)kʷáloslarge fish; sheatfish
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)kʷálos →Every word from Proto-Germanic hwalaz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic hwal →