Etymograph

English

midriff

Midriff comes from Old English midrif ‘the midriff’, from Proto-West Germanic *hrif ‘body, torso’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krep-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krep-1‘body’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krép-os ~ *krép-es-os1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrefaz2‘body’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrif3‘body, torso’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*middjahrif3reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150midrif3‘the midriff’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500midref3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1960midriff3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hrefaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hrif
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English midriff
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, London: Herbert Jenkins: “I stuck it out for about an hour and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krep-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hrefaz‘body’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krép-os ~ *krép-es-osWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hrefazreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrefazWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hrif‘body’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrifWiktionary, English midriff‘body, torso’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*middjahrifWiktionary, English midriffreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150midrifWiktionary, English midriff‘the midriff’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500midrefWiktionary, English midriff
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1960midriffWiktionary, English midriff. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, London: Herbert Jenkins: “I stuck it out for about an hour and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krep- ‘body’

corporate, corporation, corps, corporal, corpus, corporeal, corsage, corpulent, 7 more

Today it means

noun The middle section of the human torso, from below the chest to above the waist; the abdomen and its back part.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “midriff”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *hrefaz, Proto-West Germanic *hrif. 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 *krep- / midriff

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