Etymograph

English

kithe

Kithe comes from Middle English kiþen ‘to kithe’, from Old English cȳþan ‘to make known: tell, inform, announce, reveal,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-1‘to know’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥néh₃ti1‘to know, recognize’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kunnaną2‘to know’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kunþaz3‘known’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kunþijaną4‘to make known’reconstructed
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kunþijan4‘to make known’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150cȳþan4‘to make known: tell, inform, announce, reveal, let know’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kiþen4‘to kithe’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1606kithe4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kunnaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kunþaz
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kunþijaną
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English kithe
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1606, Alexander Craig, The Amorous: “these lines are sent by me, to keep the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kunnaną‘to know’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥néh₃tiWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kunnaną‘to know, recognize’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kunnanąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kunþaz‘to know’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kunþazWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kunþijaną‘known’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kunþijanąWiktionary, English kithe‘to make known’reconstructed
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kunþijanWiktionary, English kithe‘to make known’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150cȳþanWiktionary, English kithe‘to make known: tell, inform, announce, reveal, let know’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kiþenWiktionary, English kithe‘to kithe’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1606kitheWiktionary, English kithe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1606, Alexander Craig, The Amorous: “these lines are sent by me, to keep the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to know’

know, note, normal, notice, recognize, ignore, narrative, glory, recognition, noble, notion, keen, ignorant, norm, cognitive, diagnostic, notorious, notation, prognosis, narration, quaint, nobility, gnome, notoriety, cognition, notary, agnostic, canny, connoisseur, incognito, gnosis, annotate, recognizance, cognizance, 88 more

through Proto-Germanic *kunnaną ‘to know’

can, could, con, ken, cunning, keenly, canna, cun, 4 more

through Proto-Germanic *kunþaz ‘known’

uncouth, 1 more

Today it means

verb To make known; to reveal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “kithe”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, Proto-Germanic *kunþaz, Proto-Germanic *kunþijaną. 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 *ǵneh₃- / kithe

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