Etymograph

English

weld

Weld comes from Proto-West Germanic *waiʀd ‘plant used for dyeing, woad’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *waizdaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*waizdaz1‘woad’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*waiʀd1‘plant used for dyeing, woad’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*weald1reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500welde1
  5. Englishtodayweld1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English weld

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*waizdazWiktionary, English weld‘woad’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*waiʀdWiktionary, English weld‘plant used for dyeing, woad’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*wealdWiktionary, English weldreconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weldeWiktionary, English weld
  5. EnglishtodayweldWiktionary, English weld

The story

Dutch wouw is derived from the same basic form with -l-.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wey- ‘to wither’

guile, wile, wattle, withe, 2 more

through Old English *weald

wald

through Middle English welde

wield

Today it means

noun A herb (Reseda luteola) related to mignonette, growing in Europe, and to some extent in America, used to make a yellow dye.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “weld”. 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-Germanic *waizdaz / weld

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