Etymograph

English

kie

Kie comes from Old English cȳ ‘cows’, from cū ‘cow’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷéh₃u-s ‘cattle’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷéh₃u-s1‘cattle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kōz2‘cow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kō3‘cow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cū4‘cow’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cȳ4‘cows’plural of cū
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ky4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1567kie4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kōz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *kō
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English cu
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English kie
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1567, Ovid, The Seconde Booke: “And if thou zawest any kie come royling through…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷéh₃u-sWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kōz‘cattle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kōzWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *kō‘cow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kōWiktionary, Old English cu‘cow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cūWiktionary, English kie‘cow’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cȳWiktionary, English kie‘cows’plural of cū
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kyWiktionary, English kie
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1567kieWiktionary, English kie. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1567, Ovid, The Seconde Booke: “And if thou zawest any kie come royling through…”

Linked words

through Old English cū ‘cow’

cow

through Middle English ky

kye

Today it means

noun —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “kie”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *kōz, Proto-West Germanic *kō, Old English cu. 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 *gʷéh₃u-s / kie

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