Etymograph

English

grunting

Grunting comes from Middle English grunten ‘to grunt or groan as or like an animal’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- ‘to thunder’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrem-1‘to thunder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grunnōną1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grunnatjaną2‘to grunt’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grunnattjan2‘to grunt’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150grunnettan2‘to grunt’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grunten3‘to grunt or groan as or like an animal’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gruntynge4
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1886grunting4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English grunten
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle English gruntynge
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English grunting
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, Folk and Fairy Tales: “Tired with the heat and my walk, I threw…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrem-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną‘to thunder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grunnōnąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *grunnatjanąreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grunnatjanąWiktionary, Middle English grunten‘to grunt’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grunnattjanWiktionary, Middle English grunten‘to grunt’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150grunnettanWiktionary, Middle English grunten‘to grunt’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gruntenWiktionary, Middle English gruntynge‘to grunt or groan as or like an animal’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gruntyngeWiktionary, English grunting
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1886gruntingWiktionary, English grunting. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, Folk and Fairy Tales: “Tired with the heat and my walk, I threw…”

Formed from grunt + -ing

Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- ‘to shout’

…

Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną ‘to grunt’

Proto-West Germanic *grunnattjan ‘to grunt’

Old English grunnettan ‘to grunt’

Middle English grunten ‘to grunt or groan as or like an animal’

English grunt

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- ‘to thunder’

ground, grim, pogrom, 5 more

through Proto-Germanic *grunnōną

groin, 1 more

Today it means

verb A sound of grunts.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “grunting”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną, Middle English grunten, Middle English gruntynge. 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- / grunting

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