Etymograph

English

plough

Plough comes from Old English plōh ‘hide of land, ploughland’, from Proto-Celtic *ɸlowyos ‘rudder’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to fly, flow, run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-1‘to fly, flow, run’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plów-yo-s1‘ship’uncertain
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*ɸlowyos1‘rudder’uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*plōgaz2reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150plōh2‘hide of land, ploughland’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plouh2
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606–1607plough2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, which cites Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English plough
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra: “Let patient Octavia plough thy visage up / With…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, which cites Kroonen‘to fly, flow, run’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plów-yo-sWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, which cites Kroonen‘ship’uncertain
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*ɸlowyosWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, which cites Kroonen‘rudder’uncertain
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*plōgazWiktionary, English ploughreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150plōhWiktionary, English plough‘hide of land, ploughland’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plouhWiktionary, English plough
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606–1607ploughWiktionary, English plough. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra: “Let patient Octavia plough thy visage up / With…”

The story

Replaced Old English sulh (‘plough, furrow’); see sullow.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to fly, flow, run’

fly, flow, flew, pneumonia, plutonium, fowl, flue, flay, plutocracy, plover, 25 more

Today it means

noun A device pulled through the ground in order to break it open into furrows for planting.

Sources

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

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