Etymograph

English

tear

Tear (to rip) comes from Middle English teren, from Old English teran ‘to tear, lacerate’, from Proto-Germanic *teraną, from PIE *der- ‘to tear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*der-1‘to tear, tear apart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*teraną1‘to tear, rip’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150teran1‘to tear, lacerate’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500teren1‘to tear’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1913tear1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tear
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, New York: “Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*der-Wiktionary, English tear‘to tear, tear apart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*teranąWiktionary, English tear‘to tear, rip’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150teranWiktionary, English tear‘to tear, lacerate’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500terenWiktionary, English tear‘to tear’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1913tearWiktionary, English tear. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, New York: “Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *der- ‘to tear, tear apart’

  • truck ← truken ← trucian ← *trokōn ← *derew-
  • turd ← toord ← tord ← *tord ← *turdą
  • dermatology ← δέρμα ← δέρω ← *dérō
  • dermatitis ← δέρμα ← δέρω ← *dérō
  • pander ← pandare ← Pandaro ← Pandarus ← Πάνδαρος
  • dermis ← δέρμα ← δέρω ← *dérō
  • derm ← δέρμα ← δέρω ← *dérō
  • tarn ← terne ← tjǫrn ← *ternō

through Proto-Germanic *teraną ‘to tear, tear apart, rip’

  • retirement ← retirer ← tirer ← tirer ← tirer
  • tier ← tire ← tirer ← *tīrāre
  • retire ← retirer ← retirer ← tirer ← *tīrāre
  • tire ← tirer ← *tīrāre

24 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of tear

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dáḱru-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tahrąreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tahr‘tear (eye liquid)’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150teagor
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tear
  6. Englishtodaytear

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Today it means

verb To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tear”. 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 *der- / tear