Etymograph

English

bemoan

Bemoan comes from Old English bemǣnan ‘to bemoan, bewail, lament’, from mǣnan ‘to mean’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyn- ‘intention, opinion’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyn-1‘intention, opinion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mainijaną1‘to mean, think’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mainijan1‘to mean, think’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mǣnan2‘to mean’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bemǣnan3‘to bemoan, bewail, lament’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bemenen3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1577bemoan3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English mænan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English bemænan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English bemoan
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1577, Raphael Holinshed, King Richard the seconde: “The losse of this erle was greatly bemoned by…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyn-Wiktionary, Old English mænan‘intention, opinion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mainijanąWiktionary, Old English mænan‘to mean, think’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mainijanWiktionary, Old English mænan‘to mean, think’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150mǣnanWiktionary, Old English bemænan‘to mean’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bemǣnanWiktionary, English bemoan‘to bemoan, bewail, lament’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bemenenWiktionary, English bemoan
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1577bemoanWiktionary, English bemoan. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1577, Raphael Holinshed, King Richard the seconde: “The losse of this erle was greatly bemoned by…”

Linked words

through Proto-West Germanic *mainijan ‘to mean, think’

meant

through Old English mǣnan ‘to mean’

mean

Today it means

verb To moan or complain about (something).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bemoan”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English mænan, Old English bemænan. 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 *meyn- / bemoan

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