Etymograph

English

day

Day comes from Middle English day ‘a day’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *dagaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dagaz1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dag1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dæġ1‘day’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500day1‘a day’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1885day1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English day
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Burton Club: “I nighted and dayed in Damascus town[.]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dagazWiktionary, English dayreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dagWiktionary, English dayreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dæġWiktionary, English day‘day’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dayWiktionary, English day‘a day’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1885dayWiktionary, English day. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Burton Club: “I nighted and dayed in Damascus town[.]”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with day, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- ‘to burn’

  • dear ← dere ← dēore ← *diurī ← *diurijaz
  • fever ← fefer ← febris ← *feɣʷris ← *dʰegʷʰ-ri-s
  • darling ← dereling ← dīerling ← *diuriling ← *diurijalingaz
  • febrile ← febrīlis ← febris ← *feɣʷris ← *dʰegʷʰ-ri-s
  • foment ← fomenten ← fomenter ← fōmentāre ← fōmentum

through Proto-Germanic *dagaz

  • dawn ← dawnen ← dawnynge ← dawen ← dagian
  • daw ← dawen ← dagian ← *dagēn ← *dagāną

21 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The time when the Sun is above the horizon and it lights the sky.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “day”. 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 *dagaz / day