Etymograph

English

pryan

Pryan comes from Cornish pri ‘clay’, and goes back to Proto-Celtic *kʷrīyets.

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*kʷrīyets1‘clay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*prið1‘clay, mud, earth’reconstructed
  3. Middle Cornishmodernpry1
  4. Cornishmodernpri2‘clay’
  5. Englishtodaypryan2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Cornish pri
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pryan

Lineage

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*kʷrīyetsWiktionary, Cornish pri‘clay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*priðWiktionary, Cornish pri‘clay, mud, earth’reconstructed
  3. Middle CornishmodernpryWiktionary, Cornish pri
  4. CornishmodernpriWiktionary, English pryan‘clay’
  5. EnglishtodaypryanWiktionary, English pryan

The story

Not, however, derived from Cornish prien (‘clay ground’), which is itself a borrowing of pryan from English.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Celtic *kʷrīyets

Today it means

noun A soft, white clay.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pryan”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Cornish pri. 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-Celtic *kʷrīyets / pryan

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