Etymograph

English

hollow

Hollow comes from Old English holh ‘a hollow’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover, hide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-1‘to cover, hide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hulaz1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hulwiją1‘depression, hollow’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*holh1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150holh1‘a hollow’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500holow1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1820hollow1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hollow
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1820, Geoffrey Crayon pseudonym; Washington Ir, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: “This road leads through a sandy hollow shaded by…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-Wiktionary, English hollow‘to cover, hide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hulazWiktionary, English hollowreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hulwijąWiktionary, English hollow‘depression, hollow’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*holhWiktionary, English hollowreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150holhWiktionary, English hollow‘a hollow’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500holowWiktionary, English hollow
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1820hollowWiktionary, English hollow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1820, Geoffrey Crayon pseudonym; Washington Ir, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: “This road leads through a sandy hollow shaded by…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover, hide’

hell, cell, hall, color, ceiling, helmet, halt, hull, holder, helm, conceal, occult, clandestine, holden, sari, uphold, sala, cilia, recline, declination, declension, haugh, seel, halberd, hele, tricolour, 37 more

through Proto-Germanic *hulaz

hole, holing

Another origin of hollow

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500holweas holowe
  2. Englishtodayhollow

Today it means

noun A small valley between mountains.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hollow”. 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 *ḱel- / hollow

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