Etymograph

English

madder

Madder comes from Middle English mader ‘Madder or a similar plant’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *madarǭ.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*madarǭ1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150mædere1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mader1‘Madder or a similar plant’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1841madder1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English madder
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841, Jesse Buel, The Farmers' Instructor. Consisting of Essays: “Madder (Rubia tinctorum). — This plant has a perennial…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*madarǭWiktionary, English madderreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150mædereWiktionary, English madder
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500maderWiktionary, English madder‘Madder or a similar plant’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1841madderWiktionary, English madder. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841, Jesse Buel, The Farmers' Instructor. Consisting of Essays: “Madder (Rubia tinctorum). — This plant has a perennial…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *madarǭ

Today it means

noun A herbaceous plant, Rubia tinctorum, native to Asia, cultivated for a red-purple dye (alizarin) obtained from the root.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “madder”. 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-Germanic *madarǭ / madder

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