Etymograph

English

gore

Gore comes from Middle English gore ‘mud, muck’, from Proto-Germanic *gurą ‘half-digested stomach contents’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- ‘hot’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰer-1‘hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gurą1‘half-digested stomach contents’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gor1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gor1‘manure, dung, filth, muck, dirt’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gore1‘mud, muck’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1508gore1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English gore
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1508, John Fisher: “As a sowe waloweth in the stynkynge gore pytte,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰer-Wiktionary, English gore‘hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gurąWiktionary, English gore‘half-digested stomach contents’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gorWiktionary, English gorereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gorWiktionary, English gore‘manure, dung, filth, muck, dirt’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500goreWiktionary, English gore‘mud, muck’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1508goreWiktionary, English gore. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1508, John Fisher: “As a sowe waloweth in the stynkynge gore pytte,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- ‘hot’

warm, thermal, furnace, thermos, forceps, garlick, 18 more

through Old English gor ‘manure, dung, filth, muck, dirt’

gory, 1 more

Another origin of gore

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘to throw’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeys-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰoysós‘spear, missile, javelin’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaizaz‘spear, pike, javelin’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaiʀ‘spear’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150gār‘spear’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gore
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500goren‘to gore’
  9. Englishtodaygore

Another origin of gore

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘to drive, move, fling’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰays-‘pointed stick, spear’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaizô‘a wedge-shaped piece’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaiʀōreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150gāra
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gore‘patch, clothes’
  7. Englishtodaygore

Today it means

noun Blood, especially that from a wound when thickened due to exposure to the air.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gore”. 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 *gʷʰer- / gore

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