Etymograph

English

fight

Fight comes from Middle English fighten ‘to fight’, from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną ‘to comb, tease, shear, struggle with’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-1‘to comb’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fehtaną1‘to comb’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fehtan1‘to fight’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150feohtan1‘to fight’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fighten1‘to fight’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611fight1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fight
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “I have fought a good fight.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-Wiktionary, English fight‘to comb’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fehtanąWiktionary, English fight‘to comb’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fehtanWiktionary, English fight‘to fight’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150feohtanWiktionary, English fight‘to fight’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fightenWiktionary, English fight‘to fight’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611fightWiktionary, English fight. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “I have fought a good fight.”

The story

Related also to Old English feht (‘wool, shaggy pelt, fleece’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘to comb, shear’

fellow, fee, peculiar, fax, feud, cynical, hound, fawn, poodle, cynic, feu, pec, fain, pecuniary, chenille, 26 more

Another origin of fight

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-‘to pluck, ruffle, tousle, shear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fehtaną‘to struggle with’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fehtąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fehtan‘to fight’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150feoht
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fight‘a duel or brawl’
  7. Englishtodayfight

Today it means

verb Senses relating to physical conflict: To engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fight”. 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 *peḱ- / fight

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