Etymograph

English

prow

Prow comes from Ancient Greek πρῷρα ‘the front part of a ship’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *préh₃wr̥yh₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*préh₃wr̥yh₂1‘forepart (of a ship)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*prṓwařřa1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρῷρα2prōîra‘the front part of a ship’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōra2
  5. Ligurianmodernprua2
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600proue2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1674prow2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πρῷρα
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English prow
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1674, John Milton: “The floating vessel swum / Uplifted, and secure with…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*préh₃wr̥yh₂Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πρῷρα‘forepart (of a ship)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*prṓwařřaWiktionary, Ancient Greek πρῷραreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρῷραWiktionary, English prowprōîra‘the front part of a ship’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōraWiktionary, English prow
  5. LigurianmodernpruaWiktionary, English prow
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600proueWiktionary, English prow
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1674prowWiktionary, English prow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1674, John Milton: “The floating vessel swum / Uplifted, and secure with…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *préh₃wr̥yh₂

Today it means

noun The front part of a vessel.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “prow”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek πρῷρα. 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 *préh₃wr̥yh₂ / prow

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