Etymograph

English

fill

Fill comes from Old English fyllan ‘to fill’, from Proto-Germanic *fullijaną ‘to make full’, from *fullaz ‘full’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nós2‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fullaz2‘full’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fullijaną2‘to make full’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fullijan2‘to fill’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150fyllan2‘to fill’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fillen2‘to fill up’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fill2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English fill
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Whence should we have so much bread in the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nósWiktionary, English fill‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fullazWiktionary, English fill‘full’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fullijanąWiktionary, English fill‘to make full’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fullijanWiktionary, English fill‘to fill’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150fyllanWiktionary, English fill‘to fill’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fillenWiktionary, English fill‘to fill up’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fillWiktionary, English fill. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Whence should we have so much bread in the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’

people, public, complete, popular, plus, supply, completion, folk, implement, accomplish, comply, supplement, poll, manipulation, complement, plural, plethora, depletion, replete, puri, deplete, plebs, volk, plebeian, 75 more

through Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós ‘full’

plenty, plain, ample, amplitude, amplify, plenary, replenish, plenum, 21 more

through Proto-Germanic *fullaz ‘full’

full, fulsome, 5 more

Another origin of fill

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nós‘full’reconstructedoriginal past participle of *pleh₁-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fullaz‘full (not empty)’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fullį̄‘fullness’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fullī‘fullness’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150fyllu‘one's fill, fulness of food or drink’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fille‘a sufficient amount’
  8. Englishtodayfill

Today it means

verb To add contents to (a container, cavity, or the like) so that it is full.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fill”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós. 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 *pleh₁- / fill

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