Etymograph

English

ooze

Ooze comes from Middle English wose ‘sap’, from Proto-Germanic *wōsą ‘juice, moisture’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wóseh₂ ‘sap’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wóseh₂1‘sap’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wōsą1‘juice, moisture’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wōs2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wōs1‘sap, froth’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wose1‘sap’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1868ooze1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ooze
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English wos
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1868, Charlotte Riddell: “I promised him I would keep silence, but the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wóseh₂Wiktionary, English ooze‘sap’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wōsąWiktionary, English ooze‘juice, moisture’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wōsWiktionary, Old English wosreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wōsWiktionary, English ooze‘sap, froth’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500woseWiktionary, English ooze‘sap’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1868oozeWiktionary, English ooze. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1868, Charlotte Riddell: “I promised him I would keep silence, but the…”

Linked words

through Middle English wose ‘sap’

woozy, 1 more

Another origin of ooze

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weys-‘to flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*waisǭ‘mire, muck, slime’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*waisā‘mire, muck, slime’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wāse‘mud, mire’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wose‘mud, slime, ooze’
  6. Englishtodayooze

Today it means

noun Tanning liquor, an aqueous extract of vegetable matter (tanbark, sumac, etc.) in a tanning vat used to tan leather.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ooze”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English wos. 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 *wóseh₂ / ooze

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