Etymograph

English

greyhound

Greyhound comes from Old English hund ‘hound’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150hund1‘hound’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150grīġhund2
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1834greyhound2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English grighund
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English greyhound
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “Her young heart was full of love; and a…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150hundWiktionary, Old English grighund‘hound’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150grīġhundWiktionary, English greyhound
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1834greyhoundWiktionary, English greyhound. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “Her young heart was full of love; and a…”

A compound of grey + hound

Proto-Germanic *grēwaz ‘grey’

Proto-West Germanic *grāu ‘grey’

Old English grēġ ‘grey’

Middle English grey ‘grey’

English grey

Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ ‘dog’

Proto-Germanic *hundaz ‘dog’

Proto-West Germanic *hund ‘dog’

Old English hund

Middle English hound ‘a hunting or sporting dog’

English hound

The story

Altered by folk etymology to appear to be grey + hound.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Old English hund

Today it means

noun A lean breed of dog used in hunting and racing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “greyhound”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English grighund. 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 / Old English hund / greyhound

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