Etymograph

English

forth

Forth comes from Old English forþ ‘out, forth’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to cross’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1‘to cross’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥-tó-m1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*furþą2‘onward, forth’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150forþ2‘out, forth’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forth2
  6. Englishtodayforth2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *furþą
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English forth

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *furþą‘to cross’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥-tó-mWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *furþąuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*furþąWiktionary, English forth‘onward, forth’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150forþWiktionary, English forth‘out, forth’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forthWiktionary, English forth
  6. EnglishtodayforthWiktionary, English forth

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *per-

Today it means

adj —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “forth”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *furþą. 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- / forth

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