English
roe
Roe comes from Old English *hrogn ‘spawn, fish eggs, roe’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krek-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krek-1‘(frog) spawn’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrugnaz1‘spawn of frogs or fish’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*hrogn1‘spawn, fish eggs, roe’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rowe1
- Englishearliest quotation 1988roe1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English roe
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library: “It was quite flavourless, except that, where its innards…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krek-Wiktionary, English roe‘(frog) spawn’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrugnazWiktionary, English roe‘spawn of frogs or fish’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*hrognWiktionary, English roe‘spawn, fish eggs, roe’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500roweWiktionary, English roe
- Englishearliest quotation 1988roeWiktionary, English roe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library: “It was quite flavourless, except that, where its innards…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krek- ‘(frog) spawn’
Another origin of roe
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*rey-‘spotted, streaked’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raihô‘deer’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raihō‘roe deer’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rā‘roe deer, roebuck’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ro‘a roe deer’
- Englishtodayroe
Today it means
noun Eggs of fish.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “roe”. 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 *krek- / roe