Etymograph

English

team

Team comes from Old English tēam ‘offspring; set of draught animals’, from Proto-Germanic *taumaz ‘that which draws or pulls’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- ‘to pull, lead’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewk-1‘to pull, lead’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*teuhaną1‘to lead, pull, draw’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taumaz1‘that which draws or pulls’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taum1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tēam1‘offspring; set of draught animals’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tem1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1601team1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English team
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Caius Plinius Secundus [i.e., (please specify |book=I to XXXVII): “she will wonder to have a teeme of ducklings…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewk-Wiktionary, English team‘to pull, lead’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*teuhanąWiktionary, English team‘to lead, pull, draw’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taumazWiktionary, English team‘that which draws or pulls’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taumWiktionary, English teamreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tēamWiktionary, English team‘offspring; set of draught animals’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500temWiktionary, English team
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1601teamWiktionary, English team. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Caius Plinius Secundus [i.e., (please specify |book=I to XXXVII): “she will wonder to have a teeme of ducklings…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *dewk- ‘to pull, lead’

  • education ← ēducātiō ← ēducō ← dux ← dūcō
  • production ← produccioun ← prōductiō ← prōdūcō ← dūcō
  • product ← prōductus ← prōdūcō ← dūcō ← *doukō
  • touch ← touchen ← tochier ← *toccāre
  • produce ← prōdūcō ← dūcō ← *doukō ← *déwkti
  • reduce ← reducen ← reduire ← redūcō ← dūcō
  • conduct ← conductus ← condūcō ← dūcō ← *doukō
  • introduction ← introduccioun ← intrōdūctiōnem ← intrōdūctiō ← intrōdūcō
  • duke ← duc ← dux ← dūcō ← *doukō
  • reduction ← reduccion ← reducion ← reductio ← redūcō
  • introduce ← introducen ← introduire ← intrōdūcō ← *h₁énteros
  • toy ← toye

154 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A set of draught animals, such as two horses in front of a carriage.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “team”. 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 *dewk- / team