Etymograph

English

quiddle

Quiddle comes from Latin quid ‘what’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷ-1‘the primary interrogative root’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷís1‘who, what’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷid1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷid1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquid2‘what’
  6. Englishtodayquiddle2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin quid
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English quiddle

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷ-Wiktionary, Latin quid‘the primary interrogative root’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷísWiktionary, Latin quid‘who, what’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷidWiktionary, Latin quidreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷidWiktionary, Latin quidreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquidWiktionary, English quiddle‘what’
  6. EnglishtodayquiddleWiktionary, English quiddle

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’

who, which, whether, whose, whom, neutral, quantity, ubiquitous, whence, rapunzel, whither, ubiquity, cadenza, 11 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷís ‘who, what’

what, when, how, where, why, ut, 5 more

through Latin quid ‘what’

quip, 4 more

Today it means

verb To talk nonsense or speak vaguely, to waffle

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quiddle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin quid. 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 *kʷ- / quiddle

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