Etymograph

English

string

String comes from Middle English string, from Old English strenġ, from Proto-Germanic *strangiz, from PIE *strengʰ- ‘rope, cord’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strengʰ-1‘rope’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strangiz1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strangi1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150strenġ1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500string1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611string1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English string
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The string of his tongue was loosed.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*strengʰ-Wiktionary, English string‘rope’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strangizWiktionary, English stringreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strangiWiktionary, English stringreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150strenġWiktionary, English string
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stringWiktionary, English string
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611stringWiktionary, English string. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The string of his tongue was loosed.”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- ‘rope, cord, strand’

  • strong ← strang ← *strang ← *strangaz
  • district ← districtus ← distringere ← stringo ← *strengō
  • stress ← destresse ← destrecier ← distringō ← stringō
  • strength ← strengthe ← strengþu ← *strangiþu ← *strang
  • prestige ← praestīgium ← praestringō ← stringō ← *strengō
  • strict ← strictus ← stringō ← *strengō ← *stréngʰeti
  • strain ← straynen ← estreindre ← stringō ← *strengō
  • strait ← streit ← estreit ← strictus ← stringō

47 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *strengʰ- →

Another origin of string

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stryngen
  2. Englishtodaystring

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “string”. 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 *strengʰ- / string