Etymograph

English

sore

Sore comes from Old English sār ‘ache, wound’, from Proto-West Germanic *sair ‘painful, sore’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂iro-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂iro-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sairaz1‘sore, painful’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sair1‘painful, sore’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sār1‘ache, wound’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sor1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602sore1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sore
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “[…]and your water is a sore decayer of your…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂iro-Wiktionary, English sorereconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sairazWiktionary, English sore‘sore, painful’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sairWiktionary, English sore‘painful, sore’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sārWiktionary, English sore‘ache, wound’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sorWiktionary, English sore
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602soreWiktionary, English sore. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “[…]and your water is a sore decayer of your…”

Linked words

through Old English sār ‘ache, wound’

sare, 2 more

Another origin of sore

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400seuras sor‘sorrel’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sor‘sorrel’
  3. Englishtodaysore

Today it means

adj Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sore”. 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 *seh₂iro- / sore

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