Etymograph

English

death

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

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰew-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰówtus1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dauþuz1reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dauþu1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150dēaþ1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500deth1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611death1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English death
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, &…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰew-Wiktionary, English deathreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰówtusWiktionary, English deathreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dauþuzWiktionary, English deathreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dauþuWiktionary, English deathreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150dēaþWiktionary, English death
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dethWiktionary, English death
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611deathWiktionary, English death. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, &…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰew-

  • die ← deyen ← deyja ← *dawjaną
  • dead ← ded ← *daud ← *daudaz
  • 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

noun The cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism's existence as an entity independent from its environment and its return to an inert, non-living state.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “death”. 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- / death