Etymograph

English

build

Build comes from Middle English bilden, from Old English byldan, from Proto-Germanic *buþlą, from PIE *bʰuH- ‘to become’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-1‘to become’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*buþlą1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buþlijan1‘to build’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150byldan1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bilden1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596build1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English build
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto X: “It was a bridge ybuilt in goodly wize, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-Wiktionary, English build‘to become’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*buþląWiktionary, English buildreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buþlijanWiktionary, English build‘to build’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150byldanWiktionary, English build
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bildenWiktionary, English build
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596buildWiktionary, English build. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto X: “It was a bridge ybuilt in goodly wize, /…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to become, grow, thrive, be, live, dwell’

be, been, power, possible, future, present, physical, improve, presence, essential, bond, bound, absence, physician, contribution, bush, entity, booth, approve, absent, favorable, probability, fiat, distribute, contributor, favourable, bouquet, imp, retribution, attribution, bun, impotent, bower, impossibility, rebuke, aren, beamer, bosque, phylogeny, physic, 84 more

Today it means

verb To form (something) by combining materials or parts.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “build”. 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 *bʰuH- / build

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