Etymograph

English

adraw

Adraw comes from Middle English adrawen ‘to pull, draw together, clench’, from Proto-West Germanic *dragan ‘to haul, carry’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- ‘to pull, draw, drag’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰregʰ-1‘to pull, draw, drag’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰrógʰ-e-ti1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draganą2‘to draw, to pull, to carry’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dragan3‘to haul, carry’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150dragan4‘to draw’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150ādragan5‘to draw, draw out (a sword)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500adrawen5‘to pull, draw together, clench’
  8. Englishtodayadraw5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *draganą, which cites Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *dragan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English dragan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old English adragan
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English adraw

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰregʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *draganą, which cites Kroonen‘to pull, draw, drag’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰrógʰ-e-tiWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *draganą, which cites Kroonenuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draganąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *dragan‘to draw, to pull, to carry’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*draganWiktionary, Old English dragan‘to haul, carry’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150draganWiktionary, Old English adragan‘to draw’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150ādraganWiktionary, English adraw‘to draw, draw out (a sword)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500adrawenWiktionary, English adraw‘to pull, draw together, clench’
  8. EnglishtodayadrawWiktionary, English adraw

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- ‘to pull, draw, drag’

train, attractive, retreat, portrait, attraction, extraction, distraction, tract, withdraw, draught, entreat, 50 more

through Proto-Germanic *draganą ‘to draw, to pull, to carry’

draft, drawing, 1 more

through Old English dragan ‘to draw’

drag, drawer, 1 more

Today it means

verb To draw out; to draw (a sword).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “adraw”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *draganą, Proto-West Germanic *dragan, Old English dragan, Old English adragan. 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 *dʰregʰ- / adraw

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