Etymograph

English

graze

Graze comes from Middle English grasen ‘to feed with grass’, from Old English grasian ‘to graze’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow (of plants?)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-1‘to grow (of plants?)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grasą1‘grass’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grasōną1‘to feed on grass’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grasōn1‘to feed on grass’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150grasian1‘to graze’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grasen1‘to feed with grass’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598graze1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English graze
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Shylock: When Jacob grazed his uncle Laban's sheep”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-Wiktionary, English graze‘to grow (of plants?)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grasąWiktionary, English graze‘grass’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grasōnąWiktionary, English graze‘to feed on grass’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grasōnWiktionary, English graze‘to feed on grass’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150grasianWiktionary, English graze‘to graze’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grasenWiktionary, English graze‘to feed with grass’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598grazeWiktionary, English graze. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Shylock: When Jacob grazed his uncle Laban's sheep”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow (of plants?)’

green, grow, herb, arbor, gourmet, groom, yerba, greedily, ambergris, 18 more

through Proto-Germanic *grasą ‘grass’

grass, 1 more

Today it means

noun The act of grazing; a scratching or injuring lightly on passing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “graze”. 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- / graze

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