Etymograph

English

give

Give comes from Middle English yiven ‘to give’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰebʰ-1‘to give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gebaną1‘to give’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*geban1‘to give’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġiefan1‘to give’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yiven2as given‘to give’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590give2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English yiven
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English give
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, John Smyth: “Some moyst weather hath‥caused the powder to give and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰebʰ-Wiktionary, Middle English yiven‘to give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gebanąWiktionary, Middle English yiven‘to give’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gebanWiktionary, Middle English yiven‘to give’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġiefanWiktionary, Middle English yiven‘to give’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yivenWiktionary, English giveas given‘to give’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590giveWiktionary, English give. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, John Smyth: “Some moyst weather hath‥caused the powder to give and…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with give, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- ‘to give’

  • hydrocephalus ← ὑδροκέφαλον ← κεφαλή ← *kʰepʰəlā́ ← *gʰebʰ-l̥
  • cephalic ← céphalique ← cephalicus ← κεφαλικός ← κεφαλή

through Proto-Germanic *gebaną ‘to give’

  • gift ← yifte ← *gifti ← *giftiz
  • gavel ← gafol ← *gabul

through Old English ġiefan ‘to give’

23 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “give”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English yiven. 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 *gʰebʰ- / give