Etymograph

English

herring

Herring may come from Proto-West Germanic *hār ‘hair’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kes- ‘to scrape, comb’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kes-1‘to scrape, comb’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kēs-ró-m1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hērą2‘hair’uncertain
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hār3‘hair’uncertain
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hāring4reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hǣring4
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hering4
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1913herring4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hērą
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hār
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hāring
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English herring
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, New York: “Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kes-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hērą‘to scrape, comb’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kēs-ró-mWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hērąuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hērąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hār‘hair’uncertain
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hārWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hāring‘hair’uncertain
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hāringWiktionary, English herringreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150hǣringWiktionary, English herring
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heringWiktionary, English herring
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1913herringWiktionary, English herring. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, New York: “Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside…”

The story

Possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *hērą (‘hair’) + -ing, due to the similarity of their fine bones to hair. Late Latin haringus (whence French hareng, etc.) is borrowed from Germanic.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kes- ‘to scrape, comb’

hards, xylem, xylitol, 7 more

through Proto-Germanic *hērą ‘hair’

hairy, 1 more

through Proto-West Germanic *hār ‘hair’

hair, 2 more

Today it means

noun A type of small, oily fish of the genus Clupea, often used as food.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “herring”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *hērą, Proto-West Germanic *hār, Proto-West Germanic *hāring. 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 *kes- / herring

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