Etymograph

English

tide

Tide comes from Middle English tyde ‘a time (period), season’, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis ‘division, section’, and ultimately from *deh₂y- ‘to share, divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-1‘to share, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₂itis1‘division, section’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tīdiz1‘time’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tīdi1‘time’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tīd1‘time in general’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tyde1‘a time (period), season’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590tide1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tide
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto II: “[...] and rest their weary limbs a tide.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-Wiktionary, English tide‘to share, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₂itisWiktionary, English tide‘division, section’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tīdizWiktionary, English tide‘time’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tīdiWiktionary, English tide‘time’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tīdWiktionary, English tide‘time in general’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tydeWiktionary, English tide‘a time (period), season’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590tideWiktionary, English tide. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto II: “[...] and rest their weary limbs a tide.”

A compound of *deh₂- ‘to share, divide’ + *deh₂y- ‘to share, divide’

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- ‘to share, divide’

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to share, divide’

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to share, divide’

time, till, demon, tease, til, daemon, tass, daimon, 24 more

through Old English tīd ‘time in general’

tidbit, 3 more

Today it means

noun The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tide”. 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 *deh₂y- / tide

Shirt and support for this word