Etymograph

English

ridder

Ridder comes from Old English hridder ‘sieve’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrīdrą1‘sieve’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hridder2‘sieve’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ridder2
  5. Englishtodayridder2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English hridder
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ridder

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Old English hridder‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrīdrąWiktionary, Old English hridder‘sieve’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hridderWiktionary, English ridder‘sieve’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ridderWiktionary, English ridder
  5. EnglishtodayridderWiktionary, English ridder

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’

secretary, certain, secret, crime, criminal, crisis, discrimination, discretion, critic, critique, discrete, discreet, discriminate, hypocrite, criterion, discern, endocrine, excrement, excretion, incriminate, excrete, incrimination, rime, recrimination, criterium, certitude, 45 more

through Proto-Germanic *hrīdrą ‘sieve’

riddle

Another origin of ridder

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrīdrōną‘to sieve’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150hridrian
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riddren
  4. Englishtodayridder

Today it means

noun a sieve

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ridder”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English hridder. 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 *krey- / ridder

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