Etymograph

English

retch

Retch comes from Old English hrǣċan ‘to clear the throat, hawk, spit’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kreg- ‘to caw, crow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kreg-1‘to caw, crow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrēkijaną1‘to clear one's throat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrākijan1‘to spit’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrǣċan1‘to clear the throat, hawk, spit’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*recchen1reconstructed
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1819–1824retch1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English retch
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819–1824, Lord Byron, Don Juan: “Here he grew inarticulate with retching.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kreg-Wiktionary, English retch‘to caw, crow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrēkijanąWiktionary, English retch‘to clear one's throat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrākijanWiktionary, English retch‘to spit’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrǣċanWiktionary, English retch‘to clear the throat, hawk, spit’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*recchenWiktionary, English retchreconstructed
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1819–1824retchWiktionary, English retch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819–1824, Lord Byron, Don Juan: “Here he grew inarticulate with retching.”

The story

From Middle English *recchen, *rechen (attested in arechen), hræcen (‘to cough up’), from Old English hrǣċan (‘to clear the throat, hawk, spit’), from Proto-West Germanic *hrākijan, from Proto-Germanic *hrēkijaną (‘to clear one's throat’), from Proto-Indo-European *kreg- (‘to caw, crow’). Also related with German Rachen (‘throat’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kreg- ‘to caw, crow’

rugby

Another origin of retch

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reǵ-‘to straighten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃roǵéyeti‘to straighten, to make straight, to cause to be straight’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rakjaną‘to straighten, stretch’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rakkjan‘to stretch, straighten, straighten out’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150reċċan‘to stretch, extend’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recchen
  7. Englishtodayretch

Today it means

verb To make or experience an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain or spasm, as if to vomit; to gag or nearly vomit.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “retch”. 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 *kreg- / retch

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