Etymograph

English

smooth

Smooth comes from Middle English smothe, from Old English smēþe, from Proto-West Germanic *smanþī ‘flat’.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*smanþī1‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150smēþe1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smothe1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1591smooth1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English smooth
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*smanþīWiktionary, English smooth‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150smēþeWiktionary, English smooth
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smotheWiktionary, English smooth
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1591smoothWiktionary, English smooth. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.”

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Today it means

adj Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “smooth”. 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-West Germanic *smanþī / smooth