Etymograph

English

reading

Reading comes from Middle English reding, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *rādingu.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādingu1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣding2
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reding2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1881reading2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English ræding
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English reading
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881, Camoens: His Life and His Lusiads: “This is emphatically true; and hence the Portuguese Epic…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādinguWiktionary, Old English rædingreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣdingWiktionary, English reading
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redingWiktionary, English reading
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1881readingWiktionary, English reading. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881, Camoens: His Life and His Lusiads: “This is emphatically true; and hence the Portuguese Epic…”

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Today it means

noun The process of interpreting written language.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “reading”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English ræding. 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-West Germanic *rādingu / reading