Etymograph

English

morning

Morning comes from Middle English morwenynge ‘morning, sunrise’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *merkʷ- ‘to flicker, twinkle, darken’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*merkʷ-1‘to flicker’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*murginaz2as *murganazreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*morgan2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150morgen2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500morwen3‘morning’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500morwenynge3‘morning’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1791morning3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *murginaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English morwen
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English morning
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina: “Celestina […] retired to her own room, leaving her…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*merkʷ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *murginaz‘to flicker’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*murginazWiktionary, Middle English morwenas *murganazreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*morganWiktionary, Middle English morwenreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150morgenWiktionary, Middle English morwen
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500morwenWiktionary, English morning‘morning’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500morwenyngeWiktionary, English morning‘morning’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1791morningWiktionary, English morning. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina: “Celestina […] retired to her own room, leaving her…”

Linked words

through Old English morgen

morrow, 1 more

Today it means

noun The early part of the day, especially from midnight to noon.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “morning”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *murginaz, Middle English morwen. 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 *merkʷ- / morning

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