Etymograph

English

strudel

Strudel comes from German Strudel ‘whirlpool, strudel’, from Old High German strëdan ‘to burn, glow, hiss, whiz’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to stream, flow, run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-1‘to stream, flow, run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*streþaną1‘to burn, seethe, whirl’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050strëdan1‘to burn, glow, hiss, whiz’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350strëden1
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentStrudel2‘whirlpool, strudel’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1956strudel2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, German Strudel
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English strudel
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, Jean Z. Owen, Philadelphia: “Steffan grinned at him and pointed to the oven.…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-Wiktionary, German Strudel‘to stream, flow, run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*streþanąWiktionary, German Strudel‘to burn, seethe, whirl’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050strëdanWiktionary, German Strudel‘to burn, glow, hiss, whiz’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350strëdenWiktionary, German Strudel
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentStrudelWiktionary, English strudel‘whirlpool, strudel’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1956strudelWiktionary, English strudel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, Jean Z. Owen, Philadelphia: “Steffan grinned at him and pointed to the oven.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to stream, flow, run’

service, series, sort, serve, hero, conservative, stream, desert, insert, reservoir, assertion, sermon, conservatism, exert, heresy, assertive, sorcery, sorcerer, concierge, observant, heretic, servitude, sark, conservator, servile, serf, sere, 34 more

Today it means

noun A pastry made from multiple thin layers of dough rolled up and filled with fruit, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “strudel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for German Strudel. 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 *ser- / strudel

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