Etymograph

English

show

Show comes from Old English scēawian ‘to look at; to exhibit, display’, from Proto-Germanic *skawwōną ‘to look, see’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- ‘to heed, look’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewh₁-1‘to heed, look, take note of’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skawwōną1‘to look, see’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skauwōn1‘to look, see’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scēawian1‘to look at; to exhibit, display’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schewen1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599show1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English show
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “My lord of York, it better showed with you.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewh₁-Wiktionary, English show‘to heed, look, take note of’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skawwōnąWiktionary, English show‘to look, see’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skauwōnWiktionary, English show‘to look, see’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scēawianWiktionary, English show‘to look at; to exhibit, display’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schewenWiktionary, English show
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599showWiktionary, English show. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “My lord of York, it better showed with you.”

The story

Wider cognates include Ancient Greek κῦδος (kûdos), Latin caveō whence English caution and caveat, Sanskrit कवि (kaví, “seer, prophet, bard”), Proto-Slavic *čuti (whence Russian чу́ять (čújatʹ) and many more).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- ‘to heed, look, feel, take note of’

  • cave ← caveō ← *kaweō ← *(s)kowh₁éyeti
  • kudos ← κῦδος
  • precaution ← praecautiō ← praecaveō ← caveō ← *kaweō
  • sheen ← shene ← sċīene ← *skaunī ← *skauniz
  • scone ← schö̂ne ← skōni ← *skaunī ← *skauniz

13 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of show

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schewe
  2. Englishtodayshow

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Today it means

verb To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “show”. 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 *(s)kewh₁- / show