Etymograph

English

thigh

Thigh comes from Proto-Indo-European *tewk- ‘to become swollen, fat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewk-1‘to become swollen, fat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þeuhą1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þeuh1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þēoh1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thigh1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595thigh1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English thigh
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “I coniure thee by Rosalines bright eyes, By her…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewk-Wiktionary, English thigh‘to become swollen, fat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þeuhąWiktionary, English thighreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þeuhWiktionary, English thighreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þēohWiktionary, English thigh
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thighWiktionary, English thigh
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595thighWiktionary, English thigh. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “I coniure thee by Rosalines bright eyes, By her…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *tewk-

Today it means

noun The upper leg of a human, between the hip and the knee.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thigh”. 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 *tewk- / thigh

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