Etymograph

English

web

Web comes from Old English webb, from Proto-Germanic *wabją ‘something woven’, from *webaną ‘to weave’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- ‘to weave’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*webʰ-1‘to weave, braid’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*webaną1‘to weave’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wabją1‘something woven; web’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wabi1‘something woven; web’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150webb1‘web’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500web1‘woven fabric’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1511–12web1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English web
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1511–12, An Act agaynst deceyptfull making of Wollen Cloth: “Item that the Wever whiche shall have the wevyng…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*webʰ-Wiktionary, English web‘to weave, braid’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*webanąWiktionary, English web‘to weave’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wabjąWiktionary, English web‘something woven; web’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wabiWiktionary, English web‘something woven; web’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150webbWiktionary, English web‘web’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500webWiktionary, English web‘woven fabric’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1511–12webWiktionary, English web. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1511–12, An Act agaynst deceyptfull making of Wollen Cloth: “Item that the Wever whiche shall have the wevyng…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- ‘to braid, weave’

wave, wasp, waffle, whiff, woof, 5 more

through Proto-Germanic *webaną ‘to weave’

weave, weft

through Middle English web ‘Woven fabric’

webber

Today it means

noun The silken structure which a spider builds using silk secreted from the spinnerets at the caudal tip of its abdomen; a spiderweb.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “web”. 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 *webʰ- / web

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