Etymograph

English

grass

Grass comes from Middle English gras ‘a grass’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-1‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grasą1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gras1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150græs1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gras1‘a grass’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611grass1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English grass
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Thou turnest man to destruction: and sayest, Returne yee…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-Wiktionary, English grass‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grasąWiktionary, English grassreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grasWiktionary, English grassreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150græsWiktionary, English grass
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grasWiktionary, English grass‘a grass’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611grassWiktionary, English grass. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Thou turnest man to destruction: and sayest, Returne yee…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow’

  • green ← grene ← grēne ← *grōnī ← *grōniz
  • grow ← growen ← grōwan ← *grōan ← *grōaną
  • herb ← herbe ← erbe ← herba ← *gʰer-dʰ
  • arbor ← arbour ← erbier ← erbe ← herba
  • gourmet ← groumet ← grom ← *grōm ← *grōm
  • groom ← grom ← *grōma ← *grōmō ← *grōaną
  • yerba
  • greedily ← gredyly ← grǣdiglīce ← grǣdiġ ← *grādag
  • ambergris ← ambre gris

through Proto-Germanic *grasą

  • graze ← grasen ← grasian ← *grasōn ← *grasōną

19 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as ground cover rather than for grain.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “grass”. 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 *gʰreh₁- / grass