Etymograph

English

aghast

Aghast comes from Middle English agasten ‘to terrify’, from Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- ‘up, out, over’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *úd.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úd1‘up, out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ud-s-1‘up, out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uz-2‘up, out’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*uʀ-2‘up, out, over’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agasten3‘to terrify’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agast3past participle of agasten
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588aghast3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *uz-
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English a-
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English aghast
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Betraide by fortune and ſuſpitious loue, Threatned with frowning…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*údWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *uz-‘up, out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ud-s-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *uz-‘up, out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uz-Wiktionary, Old English a-‘up, out’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*uʀ-Wiktionary, Old English a-‘up, out, over’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agastenWiktionary, English aghast‘to terrify’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agastWiktionary, English aghastpast participle of agasten
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588aghastWiktionary, English aghast. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Betraide by fortune and ſuſpitious loue, Threatned with frowning…”

The story

From Middle English agast, agasted, past participle of agasten (‘to terrify’), from Old English a- (compare with Gothic 𐌿𐍃- (us-), German er-, originally meaning "out") + gæstan (‘to terrify, torment’): compare Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usgaisjan, “to terrify”, literally “to fix, to root to the spot with terror”); akin to Latin haerere (‘to stick fast, cling’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘up, out’

about, out, utter, outward, uterus, uterine, hubris, hysteresis, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *uz- ‘up, out’

ago, 3 more

through Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- ‘up, out, over’

awaken, amaze, 1 more

Today it means

adj Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “aghast”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *uz-, Old English a-. 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 *úd / aghast

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