Etymograph

English

split

Split is borrowed (c. 1567) from Middle Dutch and/or Middle Low German splitten ‘to split’, from Proto-West Germanic *splittjan, an intensive of *splītan ‘to split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pley-1‘to split, splice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*splītaną1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*splītan1‘to split’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*splittjan1reconstructedintensive form of *splītan
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500splitten1‘to split’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592split1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English split
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “The ship splits on the rock.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pley-Wiktionary, English split‘to split, splice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*splītanąWiktionary, English splitreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*splītanWiktionary, English split‘to split’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*splittjanWiktionary, English splitreconstructedintensive form of *splītan
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500splittenWiktionary, English split‘to split’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592splitWiktionary, English split. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “The ship splits on the rock.”

The story

Attested since about 1567, from Middle Dutch splitten (‘to split’) and/or Middle Low German splitten (‘to split’), both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *splittjan, an intensive form of Proto-West Germanic *splītan (‘to split’), from Proto-Germanic *splītaną (whence Danish splitte, Low German splieten, German spleißen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (‘to split, splice’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

verb To divide fully or partly along a more or less straight line.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “split”. 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)pley- / split