Etymograph

English

grasp

Grasp comes from Old English *grǣpsian ‘to grab, grasp’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- ‘to take, seize, rake’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrebʰ-1‘to take, seize, rake’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*graipisōną1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*graipisōn1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*grǣpsian1‘to grab, grasp’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500graspen1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1826grasp1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English grasp
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1826, William Blake, The Tyger: “What the anvil? what dread grasp. Dare its deadly…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrebʰ-Wiktionary, English grasp‘to take, seize, rake’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*graipisōnąWiktionary, English graspreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*graipisōnWiktionary, English graspreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*grǣpsianWiktionary, English grasp‘to grab, grasp’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500graspenWiktionary, English grasp
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1826graspWiktionary, English grasp. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1826, William Blake, The Tyger: “What the anvil? what dread grasp. Dare its deadly…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- ‘to take, seize, rake’

grab, grave, groove, graft, 9 more

Today it means

verb To grip; to take hold, particularly with the hand.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “grasp”. 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 *gʰrebʰ- / grasp

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