Etymograph

English

Smolen

Smolen comes from Polish smolić ‘to dirty oneself’, from smoła ‘tar, pitch’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smel- ‘to burn, smoulder, smoke’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smel-1‘to burn, smoulder, smoke’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Balto-Slavicc. 2000–500 BCE*smelāˀ1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*smola1‘black pitch’reconstructed
  4. Old Polishmodernsmoła1
  5. Polishmodernsmoła1‘tar, pitch’
  6. Polishmodernsmolić2‘to dirty oneself’
  7. PolishmodernSmoleń3
  8. EnglishtodaySmolen3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Polish smolić
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Polish Smoleń
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English Smolen

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smel-Wiktionary, Polish smolić‘to burn, smoulder, smoke’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Balto-Slavicc. 2000–500 BCE*smelāˀWiktionary, Polish smolićreconstructed
  3. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*smolaWiktionary, Polish smolić‘black pitch’reconstructed
  4. Old PolishmodernsmołaWiktionary, Polish smolić
  5. PolishmodernsmołaWiktionary, Polish smolić‘tar, pitch’
  6. PolishmodernsmolićWiktionary, Polish Smoleń‘to dirty oneself’
  7. PolishmodernSmoleńWiktionary, English Smolen
  8. EnglishtodaySmolenWiktionary, English Smolen

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *smel-

Today it means

name A surname from Polish.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “Smolen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Polish smolić, Polish Smoleń. 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-Indo-European *smel- / Smolen

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