Etymograph

English

firn

Firn comes from German Firn ‘névé, firn’, from Alemannic German firn ‘last year’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘forth, forward, across, through’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1‘forth, forward, across, through’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*firnijaz1reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050firni1‘old’
  4. Alemannic Germanmodernfirn1‘last year’
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentFirn1‘névé, firn’
  6. Englishtodayfirn1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English firn

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, English firn‘forth, forward, across, through’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*firnijazWiktionary, English firnreconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050firniWiktionary, English firn‘old’
  4. Alemannic GermanmodernfirnWiktionary, English firn‘last year’
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentFirnWiktionary, English firn‘névé, firn’
  6. EnglishtodayfirnWiktionary, English firn

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘forth, forward, across, through’

before, support, far, per, first, report, further, price, private, press, practice, fear, opportunity, pre, primary, prior, prime, appreciate, port, prize, afford, pregnant, ford, practical, forth, precious, praise, interpretation, privilege, parade, par, ferry, fare, porch, pardon, primitive, prix, pirate, interpreter, pragmatic, 156 more

Today it means

noun A type of old snow which has gone through multiple thaw and refreeze cycles and thus is made of numerous small icy grains, though it is not nearly as saturated with water as snowcone slush is; can be hard or somewhat soft depending on recent and current weather conditions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “firn”. 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 *per- / firn

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