Etymograph

English

Neighbor

Neighbor comes from Middle English neyghebour ‘neighbour’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwagabūrô1‘neighbour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nāhwagabūrō1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150nēahġebūr1‘neighbour’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neyghebour2‘neighbour’
  5. EnglishtodayNeighbor2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English neyghebour
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English Neighbor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*nēhwagabūrôWiktionary, Middle English neyghebour‘neighbour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*nāhwagabūrōWiktionary, Middle English neyghebourreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150nēahġebūrWiktionary, Middle English neyghebour‘neighbour’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neyghebourWiktionary, English Neighbor‘neighbour’
  5. EnglishtodayNeighborWiktionary, English Neighbor

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô

Today it means

name A surname from Middle English.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “Neighbor”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English neyghebour. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô / Neighbor

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