Etymograph

English

grime

Grime comes from Middle English grim ‘dirt or soot covering the face’, from Old English grīma ‘mask’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ‘to rub, stroke’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰer-1‘to rub, stroke’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrēy-1‘to paint, streak, smear’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grīmô2‘mask’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grīmō2‘mask’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150grīma2‘mask’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grim2‘dirt or soot covering the face’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594grime2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grīmô
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English grime
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “[…] ſhe ſweats a man may go ouer ſhoes…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰer-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grīmô‘to rub, stroke’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrēy-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grīmô‘to paint, streak, smear’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grīmôWiktionary, English grime‘mask’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grīmōWiktionary, English grime‘mask’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150grīmaWiktionary, English grime‘mask’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grimWiktionary, English grime‘dirt or soot covering the face’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594grimeWiktionary, English grime. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “[…] ſhe ſweats a man may go ouer ſhoes…”

The story

Likely influenced by dialectal Dutch grijmsel (‘grit, grime’), Dutch grijm (‘soot, grime’), Middle Dutch gryme (‘mask’), Middle Low German greme (‘dirt’), compare Danish grime (‘a halter’), Danish grimet (‘soiled, stripy’), Norwegian Bokmål grimete (‘soiled, stripy’), Norwegian Nynorsk grimete (‘soiled, stripy’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ‘to rub, stroke’

grand, greedy, charismatic, grill, yearn, chromatic, growl, yar, grit, ochre, grout, exhort, grisly, grist, 17 more

through Proto-Germanic *grīmô ‘mask’

grimace

Today it means

noun Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “grime”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *grīmô. 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 *gʰer- / grime

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