Etymology Explorer › Proto-Germanic

Where does “*word” come from?

*word (Proto-Germanic) comes from Proto-Germanic wurdą, from Proto-Indo-European werdʰo-, from Proto-Indo-European werh₁- — to speak, say.

Ancestry of “*word”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Germanicwurdąword
2Proto-Indo-Europeanwerdʰo-word
3Proto-Indo-Europeanwerh₁-to speak, say
Every word from Proto-Indo-European werh₁- →