English
egg
Egg comes from Middle English eg, borrowed from Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm ‘egg’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ōwyóm1‘egg’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ajją1‘egg’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350egg1‘egg’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eg1‘egg of a domestic or wild fowl’
- Englishearliest quotation 1535egg1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English egg
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1535, Myles Coverdale: “The Eſtrich (whoſe fethers are fayrer thẽ yᵉ wynges…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ōwyómWiktionary, English egg‘egg’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ajjąWiktionary, English egg‘egg’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350eggWiktionary, English egg‘egg’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500egWiktionary, English egg‘egg of a domestic or wild fowl’
- Englishearliest quotation 1535eggWiktionary, English egg. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1535, Myles Coverdale: “The Eſtrich (whoſe fethers are fayrer thẽ yᵉ wynges…”
The story
The noun is derived from Middle English eg, egg, egge (‘egg of a domestic or wild fowl; egg of a snake’) [and other forms] (originally Northern England and Northeast Midlands), from Old Norse egg (‘egg’), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (‘egg’) (by Holtzmann’s law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (‘egg’), probably from *h₂éwis (‘bird’), from *h₂ew- (‘to consume’).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with egg, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- ‘to consume’
- audience ← audientia ← audiēns ← audiō ← *awizdiō
- ear ← eare ← ēare ← *auʀā ← *ausô
- audit ← audītus ← audiō ← *awizdiō ← *h₂ewis
- acoustic ← acousticus ← ἀκουστῐκός ← ἀκούω ← *akóuhō
- obey ← obeyen ← obeir ← obeir ← oboediō
- avid ← avide ← avidus ← aveō ← *h₂ew-eh₁yeti
- audible ← audibilis ← audiō ← *awizdiō ← *h₂ewis
- anesthesia ← anaesthēsia ← ἀναισθησία ← αἴσθησις ← αἰσθάνομαι
- ovation ← ovatio ← ovō
- aural ← auralis ← auris ← *auzis ← *h₂ṓws
- avarice ← avāritia ← avārus ← aveō ← *h₂ew-eh₁yeti
- otolaryngology ← οὖς ← *h₂ṓws
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Another origin of egg
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-‘sharp’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*agjō‘a corner’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350egg‘an edge’
- Old Norsec. 800–1350eggja‘to incite, egg on’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150eggian‘to egg, excite’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eggen‘to urge on’
- Englishtodayegg
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Today it means
noun An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell during its development.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “egg”. 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.