Etymograph

English

gazon

Gazon comes from French gazon ‘lawn’, from Frankish *wasō ‘ground, turf, sod’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wes- ‘moist, damp, wet’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wes-1‘moist, damp, wet’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wasô1‘moisture’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wasō1‘ground, turf, sod’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400gason1
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600gazon1
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentgazon1‘lawn’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1659gazon1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English gazon
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1659, Laurence Sterne: “—I would throw out the earth upon this hand…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wes-Wiktionary, English gazon‘moist, damp, wet’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wasôWiktionary, English gazon‘moisture’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wasōWiktionary, English gazon‘ground, turf, sod’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400gasonWiktionary, English gazon
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600gazonWiktionary, English gazon
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentgazonWiktionary, English gazon‘lawn’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1659gazonWiktionary, English gazon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1659, Laurence Sterne: “—I would throw out the earth upon this hand…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wes- ‘moist, damp, wet’

wear, invest, vest, bison, venal, basmati, vend, 24 more

Today it means

noun One of the pieces of sod used to line or cover parapets and the faces of earthworks.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gazon”. 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 *wes- / gazon

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