English
die
Die comes from Middle English deyen ‘to die’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English die
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Returne with ſpeed, time paſſeth ſwift away, Our life…”.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500deyenWiktionary, English die‘to die’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588dieWiktionary, English die. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Returne with ſpeed, time paſſeth ſwift away, Our life…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰew-
death, dead, funeral, dusty, typhus, doze, dwindle, funerary, 2 more
through Proto-Germanic *dawjaną ‘to die’
Another origin of die
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-‘to lay out, to spread out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dédeh₃tireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*didōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdō‘to give’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdatus‘given’past participle of dō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdatum
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400de
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dee‘a die or dice’
- Englishtodaydie
Replaced Old English tasul, tesul (‘die’), from Latin tessella (‘die, cube’).
Another origin of die
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-‘sky, heaven’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyḗws‘heaven, sky’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*djēmreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccusative
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdies‘day’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdie‘in a day’locative of dies
- Englishtodaydie
Today it means
verb To stop living; to become dead; to undergo death.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “die”. 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 / Middle English deyen / die