Etymograph

English

ghyll

Ghyll comes from Old Norse gil ‘ravine, gully’, from Proto-Germanic *gilją ‘cleft’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to yawn, gape’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-1‘to yawn, gape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gilją2‘cleft’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gil2‘ravine, gully’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gille2
  5. Englishtodayghyll2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gilją
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ghyll

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gilją‘to yawn, gape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*giljąWiktionary, English ghyll‘cleft’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gilWiktionary, English ghyll‘ravine, gully’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gilleWiktionary, English ghyll
  5. EnglishtodayghyllWiktionary, English ghyll

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to yawn, gape’

goal, gas, gap, chaos, gum, chaotic, hiatus, gab, gape, 9 more

through Middle English gille

gill

Today it means

noun A ravine.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ghyll”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *gilją. 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 *ǵʰeh₂- / ghyll

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