Etymograph

English

morrow

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

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*merkʷ-1‘to flicker, twinkle, darken’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*murginaz2as *murganaz‘morning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*morgan2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150morgen2‘morning’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500morwe2‘morning’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1885morrow2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *murginaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English morrow
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1885, Sir Richard Burton: “[…] he did her bidding but hardly touched food;…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*merkʷ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *murginaz‘to flicker, twinkle, darken’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*murginazWiktionary, English morrowas *murganaz‘morning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*morganWiktionary, English morrowreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150morgenWiktionary, English morrow‘morning’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500morweWiktionary, English morrow‘morning’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1885morrowWiktionary, English morrow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1885, Sir Richard Burton: “[…] he did her bidding but hardly touched food;…”

Linked words

through Proto-West Germanic *morgan

morning

through Old English morgen ‘morning’

morn, 1 more

Today it means

noun The next or following day.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “morrow”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *murginaz. 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- / morrow

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