Etymograph

English

weasel

Weasel comes from Middle English wēsele ‘weasel, polecat’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weys- ‘to ooze, stink’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weys-1‘to ooze, stink’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wisulǭ2reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wisulā2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150weosule2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wēsele2‘weasel, polecat’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1961weasel2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English weasel
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “An old traditional prescription for provoking erotic inclinations ran…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weys-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ‘to ooze, stink’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wisulǭWiktionary, English weaselreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wisulāWiktionary, English weaselreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150weosuleWiktionary, English weasel
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wēseleWiktionary, English weasel‘weasel, polecat’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1961weaselWiktionary, English weasel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “An old traditional prescription for provoking erotic inclinations ran…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weys- ‘to ooze, stink’

virus, visceral, whisk, virulent, ooze, woozy, viscera, virion, 7 more

Today it means

noun Any of the carnivorous mammals of the genera Mustela, Neogale, Poecilogale, and Lyncodon, having a slender body, a long tail and usually a light brown upper coat and light-coloured belly.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “weasel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ. 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 *weys- / weasel

Shirt and support for this word