Etymograph

English

giddy

Giddy comes from Old English gidiġ ‘possessed by a demon or spirit, insane, mad’, from Proto-Germanic *gudą ‘god, deity’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- ‘to pour’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰew-1‘to pour’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewH-1‘to call, to invoke’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰutóm1uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gudą2‘god, deity’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*god3reconstructed
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gudīg3‘ghostly, spirited’literally ‘possessed by a god or spirit’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150gidiġ3‘possessed by a demon or spirit, insane, mad’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gidi3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1591giddy3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gudą
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *god
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English giddy
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “The Biſhop, and the Duke of Gloſters men, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰew-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gudą‘to pour’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewH-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gudą‘to call, to invoke’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰutómWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gudąuncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gudąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *god‘god, deity’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*godWiktionary, English giddyreconstructed
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gudīgWiktionary, English giddy‘ghostly, spirited’literally ‘possessed by a god or spirit’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150gidiġWiktionary, English giddy‘possessed by a demon or spirit, insane, mad’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gidiWiktionary, English giddy
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1591giddyWiktionary, English giddy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “The Biſhop, and the Duke of Gloſters men, /…”

The story

The adjective is derived from Middle English gidi, gedy, gydy (‘demonically controlled or possessed; crazy, insane; foolish, idiotic, ridiculous, unwise; unsure; (rare) dizzy, shaky; (rare) of an animal: crazed, out of control; a fool’) [and other forms], from Old English gidiġ, gydiġ (‘possessed by a demon or spirit, insane, mad’), from Proto-West Germanic *gudīg (“ghostly, spirited”, literally “possessed by a god or spirit”), from *god (‘god’) + *-ig, *-g (suffix forming adjectives with the senses of being, doing, or having). Thus the word's elements correspond to god + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’, forming adjectives).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- ‘to pour’

chemist, futile, gust, futility, gush, geyser, ingot, 23 more

through Proto-West Germanic *god

god, 1 more

Today it means

adj Feeling a sense of spinning in the head, causing a perception of unsteadiness and being about to fall down; dizzy.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “giddy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *gudą, Proto-West Germanic *god. 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 *ǵʰew- / giddy

Shirt and support for this word