Etymograph

English

bury

Bury comes from Middle English birien ‘to bury’, from Old English byrġan ‘to hide’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- ‘to defend, protect’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰergʰ-1‘to defend, protect’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burgijaną1‘to keep safe’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*burgijan1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150byrġan1‘to hide’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500birien1‘to bury’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599bury1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bury
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Give me a bowl of wine. / In this…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰergʰ-Wiktionary, English bury‘to defend, protect’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burgijanąWiktionary, English bury‘to keep safe’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*burgijanWiktionary, English buryreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150byrġanWiktionary, English bury‘to hide’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500birienWiktionary, English bury‘to bury’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599buryWiktionary, English bury. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Give me a bowl of wine. / In this…”

The story

The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects, while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɛ/ is from the Kentish dialects.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- ‘to defend, protect’

borrow, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *burgijaną ‘to keep safe’

bargain, 2 more

through Old English byrġan ‘to hide’

burial, 2 more

Today it means

verb To kill or murder.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bury”. 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 *bʰergʰ- / bury

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