Etymograph

English

row

Row comes from Middle English rewe ‘row’, from Old English rǣw ‘row, line’, from Proto-Germanic *raiwō, from *rīgǭ ‘row, line’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyk-1‘to line up; to arrange’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hréykō1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīgǭ1‘row, line’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raiwō1reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raiwu1reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣw1‘row, line’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rewe1‘row’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611row1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English row
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And there were windows in three rows.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyk-Wiktionary, English row‘to line up; to arrange’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*HréykōWiktionary, English rowreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīgǭWiktionary, English row‘row, line’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raiwōWiktionary, English rowreconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raiwuWiktionary, English rowreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣwWiktionary, English row‘row, line’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reweWiktionary, English row‘row’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611rowWiktionary, English row. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And there were windows in three rows.”

Linked words

through Middle English rewe ‘row, ordered arrangement’

ruth, rue, ruefully, rowed, 6 more

Another origin of row

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reh₁-‘to row’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rōaną‘to row’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rōwan‘to row’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rowen‘to row’
  5. Englishtodayrow

Today it means

noun A line of objects, often regularly spaced, such as seats in a theatre, vegetable plants in a garden, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “row”. 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 *Hreyk- / row

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