Etymograph

English

sagwire

Sagwire comes from Malay sagu ‘sago’, and goes back to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sagu.

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*sagu1‘processed sago, prepared starch from the sago palm’reconstructed
  2. Malaymodernsagu2‘sago’
  3. Portuguesec. 1500–presentsagueiro2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1798sagwire2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Malay sagu
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sagwire
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1798, Samuel Hull Wilcocke, London: G.G. and J. Robinson: “One of theſe leaves, or rather branches, is cut…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*saguWiktionary, Malay sagu‘processed sago, prepared starch from the sago palm’reconstructed
  2. MalaymodernsaguWiktionary, English sagwire‘sago’
  3. Portuguesec. 1500–presentsagueiroWiktionary, English sagwire
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1798sagwireWiktionary, English sagwire. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1798, Samuel Hull Wilcocke, London: G.G. and J. Robinson: “One of theſe leaves, or rather branches, is cut…”

Linked words

through Malay sagu ‘sago’

sago, 1 more

Today it means

noun Synonym of sagueir (palm wine made from Arenga pinnata).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sagwire”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Malay sagu. 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-Malayo-Polynesian *sagu / sagwire

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