Etymograph

English

dish

Dish comes from Old English disċ ‘plate’, from Proto-West Germanic *disk ‘table’, and perhaps ultimately from Ancient Greek δίκτυον ‘fishing net’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδίκτυον1díktuon‘fishing net’uncertainearlier origin unknown
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδικεῖν2dikeîn‘to cast’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδίσκος3‘quoit, disc, discus’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscus4‘a discus, quoit’
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*disk5‘table’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150disċ5‘plate’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dissh5
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1599dish5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δικεῖν, which cites Beekes, Rix
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δίσκος
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin discus
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *disk
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English dish
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Let's carve him a dish fit for the gods”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδίκτυονWiktionary, Ancient Greek δικεῖν, which cites Beekes, Rixdíktuon‘fishing net’uncertainearlier origin unknown
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδικεῖνWiktionary, Ancient Greek δίσκοςdikeîn‘to cast’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδίσκοςWiktionary, Latin discus‘quoit, disc, discus’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscusWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *disk‘a discus, quoit’
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*diskWiktionary, English dish‘table’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150disċWiktionary, English dish‘plate’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500disshWiktionary, English dish
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1599dishWiktionary, English dish. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Let's carve him a dish fit for the gods”

Linked words

through Ancient Greek δίσκος ‘quoit, disc, discus’

disk, discus, discal, 4 more

through Latin discus ‘a discus, quoit’

desk, disc, dais, 4 more

through Proto-West Germanic *disk ‘table’

tish

Today it means

noun A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dish”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek δικεῖν, Ancient Greek δίσκος, Latin discus, Proto-West Germanic *disk. 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 / Ancient Greek δίκτυον / dish

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