Etymograph

English

tun

Tun comes from Middle English tunne ‘cask’, from Latin tunna ‘tun, box’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- ‘to cut off’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tend-1‘to cut off’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*tondā2‘surface, skin’uncertain
  3. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*tondā2uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtunna3‘tun, box’
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tunnǭ3reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150tunne3‘tun, cask, barrel’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tunne3‘cask’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1599tun3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Celtic *tondā
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin tunna, which cites Matasović
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English tun
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tend-Wiktionary, Proto-Celtic *tondā‘to cut off’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*tondāWiktionary, Latin tunna, which cites Matasović‘surface, skin’uncertain
  3. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*tondāWiktionary, Latin tunna, which cites Matasovićuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtunnaWiktionary, English tun‘tun, box’
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tunnǭWiktionary, English tunreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150tunneWiktionary, English tun‘tun, cask, barrel’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tunneWiktionary, English tun‘cask’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1599tunWiktionary, English tun. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit, /…”

The story

It is uncertain whether the Germanic or the Celtic forms are the original.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tend- ‘to cut off’

attend, intense, intent, intensive, pretentious, ostensible, 7 more

Another origin of tun

  1. Malaymoderntun
  2. Englishtodaytun

Today it means

noun A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tun”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Celtic *tondā, Latin tunna. 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 *tend- / tun

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