Etymograph

English

groin

Groin comes from Old English grynde ‘abyss’, from Proto-Germanic *grunduz ‘ground, foundation’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- ‘floor, settlement’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrem-1‘floor, settlement’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grunduz2‘ground, foundation’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grundiją2reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grundī2‘abyss’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150grynde2‘abyss’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grinde2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1869groin2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grunduz, which cites Kroonen, Orel
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English groin
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago: “The part of the village in which I resided…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrem-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grunduz, which cites Kroonen, Orel‘floor, settlement’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grunduzWiktionary, English groin‘ground, foundation’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grundijąWiktionary, English groinreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grundīWiktionary, English groin‘abyss’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150gryndeWiktionary, English groin‘abyss’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grindeWiktionary, English groin
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1869groinWiktionary, English groin. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago: “The part of the village in which I resided…”

The story

From earlier grine, from Middle English grinde, grynde, from Old English grynde (‘abyss’) (perhaps also "depression, hollow"), probably related to Proto-Germanic *grunduz; see ground. Later altered under the influence of loin.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- ‘floor, settlement’

grim, grunting, pogrom, 5 more

through Proto-Germanic *grunduz ‘ground, foundation’

ground, 1 more

Another origin of groin

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grunnōnąreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrunniō‘to grunt (like a pig)’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400groignier
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500groynen‘to mumble, growl or babble’
  5. Englishtodaygroin

Today it means

noun The crease or depression of the human body at the junction of the trunk and the thigh, together with the surrounding region.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “groin”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *grunduz. 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 *gʰrem- / groin

Shirt and support for this word