Etymograph

English

withy

Withy comes from Old English wīþiġ ‘willow, withy’, from Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis ‘that which twines or bends, branch, switch’, and ultimately from *weh₁y-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁y-1‘to twine, wind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéh₁itis2‘that which twines or bends, branch, switch’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wīþijō2‘willow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wīþiġ3‘willow, withy’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1922withy3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis, which cites Beekes, Derksen, Matasović
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English wiþig
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English withy
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, Eric Rücker Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance: “In the midst of the meadow was a space…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁y-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis, which cites Beekes, Derksen, Matasović‘to twine, wind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéh₁itisWiktionary, Old English wiþig‘that which twines or bends, branch, switch’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wīþijōWiktionary, Old English wiþig‘willow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wīþiġWiktionary, English withy‘willow, withy’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1922withyWiktionary, English withy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, Eric Rücker Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance: “In the midst of the meadow was a space…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- ‘to twine, wind’

weak, wine, wire, vinyl, iris, vine, novella, vino, vignette, vetch, 28 more

through Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis ‘that which twines or bends, branch, switch’

novel, vise, withe, 4 more

Today it means

noun An osier (Salix viminalis), a type of willow.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “withy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis, Old English wiþig. 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 *weh₁y- / withy

Shirt and support for this word