Etymograph

English

riddle

Riddle comes from Middle English redel, a back-formation from redels ‘a riddle’, from Old English rǣdels ‘counsel, opinion, riddle’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- ‘to think, arrange’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreh₁dʰ-1‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hréh₁dʰeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rēdaną2‘to advise, counsel’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādan3‘to advise’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādislī4‘counsel’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣdels4‘counsel’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redels4‘a riddle or enigma’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redel4‘a riddle or enigma’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611riddle4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *rēdaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *rādan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *rādislī
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English riddle
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “12 ¶ And Samson said vnto them, I will…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreh₁dʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *rēdaną‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hréh₁dʰetiWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *rēdanąreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rēdanąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *rādan‘to advise, counsel’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādanWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *rādislī‘to advise’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādislīWiktionary, English riddle‘counsel’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣdelsWiktionary, English riddle‘counsel’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redelsWiktionary, English riddle‘a riddle or enigma’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redelWiktionary, English riddle‘a riddle or enigma’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611riddleWiktionary, English riddle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “12 ¶ And Samson said vnto them, I will…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with riddle, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Germanic *rēdaną ‘to decide, advise’

  • raad ← râet ← rāt ← *rād ← *rēdaz

through Proto-West Germanic *rādan ‘to advise’

  • read ← reden ← rǣdan
  • reed ← reden ← rǣdan
  • rede ← reden ← rǣdan

6 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of riddle

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrid-‘to shake’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrīdrąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrīdrā‘sieve’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hriddel‘sieve’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riddil
  7. Englishtodayriddle

Another origin of riddle

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wreyt-‘to twist, writhe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrīþaną‘to weave, to twist’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrīþan‘to weave, twist’reconstructed
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050rīdan‘to turn’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ridel
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riddel
  7. Englishtodayriddle

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Today it means

noun A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “riddle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *rēdaną, Proto-West Germanic *rādan, Proto-West Germanic *rādislī. 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 *Hreh₁dʰ- / riddle