Etymograph

English

over

Over comes from Middle English over ‘above’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *úp.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úp1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upér1‘above’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uber1reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*obar1‘over’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ofer1‘over’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500over1‘above’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1661over1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English over
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned: “During the whole time of his abode in the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úpWiktionary, English overreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upérWiktionary, English over‘above’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uberWiktionary, English overreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*obarWiktionary, English over‘over’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150oferWiktionary, English over‘over’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500overWiktionary, English over‘above’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1661overWiktionary, English over. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned: “During the whole time of his abode in the…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with over, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘above’

  • super
  • supreme ← suppreme ← suppreme ← suprēmus ← superus
  • summary ← summārius ← summa ← superus ← *superos
  • uber ← ubiri ← *ubiri ← *upéri
  • soprano ← *superānus ← super ← *super
  • sovereign ← sovereyn ← soverain ← *superānus ← super
  • supra ← suprād ← *superād ← *superos ← *super
  • consummate ← consummat(e) ← cōnsummātus ← cōnsummō ← summa
  • summa ← superus ← *superos ← *super

19 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Finished; ended; concluded.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “over”. 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 *úp / over