Etymograph

English

dead

Dead comes from Middle English ded, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰew-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*daudaz1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*daud1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dēad1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ded1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596dead1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English dead
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “You breathe these dead news in as dead an…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰew-Wiktionary, English deadreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*daudazWiktionary, English deadreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*daudWiktionary, English deadreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dēadWiktionary, English dead
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dedWiktionary, English dead
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596deadWiktionary, English dead. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “You breathe these dead news in as dead an…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰew-

  • die ← deyen ← deyja ← *dawjaną
  • death ← deth ← dēaþ ← *dauþu ← *dauþuz
  • funeral ← funerailles ← fūnerālia ← fūnerālis ← fūnus
  • dusty ← dūstiġ ← dūst ← *dust ← *dustą
  • typhus ← τῦφος ← τύφω ← *dʰewbʰ-
  • doze ← *dosen ← dúsa ← *dusāną ← *dʰews-
  • dwindle ← dwynen ← dwīnan ← *dwīnan ← *dwīnaną
  • funerary ← fūnerārius ← funus ← *fūnos

3 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj No longer living; deceased. (Also used as a noun.)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dead”. 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 *dʰew- / dead