Etymograph

English

fulling

Fulling comes from Middle English fullen ‘to baptise’, from Proto-West Germanic *wīhijan ‘to hallow, consecrate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to choose, separate out, set aside as holy, consecrate, sacrifice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyk-o-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wīhaz2‘sacred, holy’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wīhijaną3‘to hallow, to consecrate’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wīhijan4‘to hallow, consecrate’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150fullian4
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fullen5‘to baptise’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fulling5
  9. Englishtodayfulling5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wīhaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wīhijaną
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *wīhijan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle English fullen
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English fulling

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wīhaz‘to choose, separate out, set aside as holy, consecrate, sacrifice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyk-o-sWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wīhazreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wīhazWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wīhijaną‘sacred, holy’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wīhijanąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *wīhijan‘to hallow, to consecrate’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wīhijanWiktionary, Middle English fullen‘to hallow, consecrate’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150fullianWiktionary, Middle English fullen
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fullenWiktionary, English fulling‘to baptise’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fullingWiktionary, English fulling
  9. EnglishtodayfullingWiktionary, English fulling

Formed from full + -ing

Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’

…

Proto-Germanic *fullaz ‘full’

Proto-West Germanic *full ‘full’

Old English full ‘full’

Middle English ful ‘full’

English full

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to choose, separate out, set aside as holy,…’

victory, victim, province, weakness, victor, icon, conviction, witch, convince, wicked, wo, convict, eviction, vicar, invincible, wight, weakly, evict, vanquish, wile, ancona, waw, 32 more

Today it means

noun Baptism.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fulling”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *wīhaz, Proto-Germanic *wīhijaną, Proto-West Germanic *wīhijan, Middle English fullen. 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 *weyk- / fulling

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