Etymograph

English

tose

Tose comes from Middle English tosen ‘to card wool’, from Old English *tāsan ‘to tease’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to divide, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-1‘to divide, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taisan1‘to tug, separate, shred’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*tāsan1‘to tease’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tosen1‘to card wool’
  5. Englishtodaytose1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tose

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-Wiktionary, English tose‘to divide, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taisanWiktionary, English tose‘to tug, separate, shred’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*tāsanWiktionary, English tose‘to tease’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tosenWiktionary, English tose‘to card wool’
  5. EnglishtodaytoseWiktionary, English tose

Linked words

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

time, till, demon, tide, til, tease, daemon, tass, daimon, 23 more

Today it means

verb To pull apart or asunder; touse.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tose”. 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- / tose

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