Etymograph

English

dew

Dew comes from Proto-West Germanic *dauw ‘moisture’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘smoke, haze’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-1‘smoke, haze’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dawwaz1‘dew, moisture’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dauw1‘moisture’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dēaw1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dew1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593dew1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English dew
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “the golden dew of sleep”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-Wiktionary, English dew‘smoke, haze’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dawwazWiktionary, English dew‘dew, moisture’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dauwWiktionary, English dew‘moisture’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dēawWiktionary, English dew
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dewWiktionary, English dew
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593dewWiktionary, English dew. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “the golden dew of sleep”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘smoke, haze’

down, steam, dye, funk, dun, dune, duvet, dag, fume, thymus, obfuscate, fumigation, typhon, 27 more

Another origin of dew

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-‘smoke, haze’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰowh₂-o-muncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dawwąreconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dawwāną‘to bedew’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dauwēn‘to bedew’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150*dēawianreconstructed
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dewe
  8. Englishtodaydew

Today it means

noun Any moisture from the atmosphere condensed by cool bodies upon their surfaces.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dew”. 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 *dʰewh₂- / dew

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