Etymograph

English

call

Call comes from Middle English callen ‘to call’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *kalzōną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kalzōną1‘to call’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kalʀōn1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ceallian1‘to call’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*callian1reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500callen1‘to call’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599call1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English call
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, William Shakespeare: “If you heare a child crie in the night…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kalzōnąWiktionary, English call‘to call’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kalʀōnWiktionary, English callreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ceallianWiktionary, English call‘to call’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*callianWiktionary, English callreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500callenWiktionary, English call‘to call’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599callWiktionary, English call. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, William Shakespeare: “If you heare a child crie in the night…”

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Today it means

verb To request, summon, or beckon.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “call”. 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-Germanic *kalzōną / call