Etymograph

English

weed

Weed may come from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- ‘to wind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-1‘to wind’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wi-wdʰ-o-m1uncertainarchaic reduplicated noun formation of *wedʰ-
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*weud2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wēod2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weed2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596weed2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *weud
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English weed
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto VII: “one rushing forth out of the thickest weed”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *weud‘to wind’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wi-wdʰ-o-mWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *weuduncertainarchaic reduplicated noun formation of *wedʰ-
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*weudWiktionary, English weedreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wēodWiktionary, English weed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weedWiktionary, English weed
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596weedWiktionary, English weed. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto VII: “one rushing forth out of the thickest weed”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- ‘to wind’

wage, engage, wedding, gage, wed, 9 more

Another origin of weed

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weudōną‘to uproot, weed’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150wēodian‘to weed’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weeden
  4. Englishtodayweed

Another origin of weed

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-‘to wind’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wi-wdʰ-o-muncertainarchaic reduplicated noun formation of *wedʰ-
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*weudreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wēod‘a weed’
  5. Scotsc. 1450–presentweid
  6. Englishtodayweed

The longer form weidinonfa, wytenonfa (Old Scots wedonynpha) is attested since the 1500s. Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language analyses the longer form as a compound meaning "onfa(ll) of a weed", whereas the Scottish National Dictionary/DSL considers the short form a derivative of the longer form, and derives its first element from Old English wēdan (‘to be mad or delirious’), from wōd (‘mad, enraged’).

Today it means

noun Any plant unwanted at the place where and at the time when it is growing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “weed”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-West Germanic *weud. 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 *wedʰ- / weed

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