Etymograph

English

depth

Depth comes from Middle English depthe, from Old English *dīepþ, from Proto-Germanic *diupiþō, from *deupaz ‘deep’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewbʰ-1‘to sink in’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*deupaz2‘deep’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*diupiþō3reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*diupiþu3‘depth’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150*dīepþ3reconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500depthe3‘deepness’
  7. Englishtodaydepth3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *deupaz, which cites Kluge
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *diupiþō
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English depth

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewbʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *deupaz, which cites Kluge‘to sink in’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*deupazWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *diupiþō‘deep’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*diupiþōWiktionary, English depthreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*diupiþuWiktionary, English depth‘depth’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150*dīepþWiktionary, English depthreconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500deptheWiktionary, English depth‘deepness’
  7. EnglishtodaydepthWiktionary, English depth

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- ‘to sink in’

  • bottom ← botme ← botm ← *butm ← *butmaz
  • fund ← fundus ← *fundos ← *bʰundʰós ← *bʰudʰnós
  • foundation ← foundacioun ← fondacion ← fundātiō ← fundō
  • dumb ← *dumbaz
  • dave ← deven ← dēafian ← dēaf ← *daub
  • founder ← fondeur ← fundātor ← fundō ← fundus
  • dip ← dippen ← dyppan ← *duppjan ← *dupjaną
  • fond ← fundus ← *fundos ← *bʰundʰós ← *bʰudʰnós
  • bot ← bottom ← botme ← botm ← *botm
  • dove ← douve ← *dūfe ← *dūbā ← *dūbǭ
  • deaf ← def ← *daub ← *daubaz
  • dub ← dubben ← dubbian ← adober ← *dubbōn

28 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun the vertical distance below a surface; the degree to which something is deep

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “depth”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *deupaz, Proto-Germanic *diupiþō. 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 *dʰewbʰ- / depth