Etymograph

English

water

Water comes from Old English wæter ‘water’, from Proto-Germanic *watōr, from Proto-Indo-European *wédōr, the collective of *wódr̥ ‘water’, and ultimately from *wed- ‘water; to well’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-1‘water; to well’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wódr̥1‘water’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wédōr1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*watōr1‘water’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*watar1‘water’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wæter1‘water’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500water1‘water’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1526water1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English water
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “And as they went on their waye they cam…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-Wiktionary, English water‘water; to well’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wódr̥Wiktionary, English water‘water’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wédōrWiktionary, English waterreconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*watōrWiktionary, English water‘water’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*watarWiktionary, English water‘water’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wæterWiktionary, English water‘water’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500waterWiktionary, English water‘water’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1526waterWiktionary, English water. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “And as they went on their waye they cam…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *wed-

  • wet ← weten ← wǣtan ← *wātijan ← *wētijaną
  • wash ← wasshen ← wascan ← *waskan ← *waskaną
  • und ← unde ← unde ← unda ← *udn-om
  • abundance ← abundaunce ← habundance ← abundantia ← abundō
  • surround ← sourrounden ← souronder ← superundō ← undō
  • abundant ← abundaunt ← abondant ← abundāns ← abundō
  • redundant ← redundāns ← redundō ← undō ← unda
  • vitriol ← vitriolum ← vitrum ← *wed-ro-m
  • otter ← oter ← otor ← *otr ← *utraz
  • vitreous ← vitreux ← vitreus ← vitrum ← *wed-ro-m
  • anhydrous ← ὕδωρ ← *údōr ← *wódr̥
  • undine ← undīna ← unda ← *udn-om

69 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of water

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wódr̥reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*watōrreconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*watrōnąreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wæterian‘to water, supply water to, give drink to’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wateren
  7. Englishtodaywater

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Today it means

noun An inorganic compound (of molecular formula H₂O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it is present naturally as rain, and found in rivers, lakes and seas; its solid form is ice and its gaseous form is steam.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “water”. 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 *wed- / water