Etymograph

English

awaken

Awaken may come from Middle English awakenen.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500awakenen1uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1665awaken1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English awaken
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1665, Robert Hooke: “[This ant] I ſuffered to lye above an hour…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500awakenenWiktionary, English awakenuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1665awakenWiktionary, English awaken. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1665, Robert Hooke: “[This ant] I ſuffered to lye above an hour…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- ‘to be lively, awake’

wait, surveillance, vegetation, vigorous, vigilant, vigil, vigour, invigorate, reveille, vajra, waker, 10 more

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

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

through Proto-Germanic *uz- ‘up, out’

ago, 3 more

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

amaze, aghast, 1 more

Today it means

verb To cause to become awake.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “awaken”. 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 / Middle English awakenen / awaken

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