Etymograph

English

wonderful

Wonderful comes from Middle English wonderful, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *wundrafull.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wundrafull1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150wundorful1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wonderful1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1808wonderful1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English wonderful
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1808, Richard Johnson, The famous Historie of the Seaven Champions of Christendome: “[…] wherein they were no sooner entered, but they…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wundrafullWiktionary, English wonderfulreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150wundorfulWiktionary, English wonderful
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wonderfulWiktionary, English wonderful
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1808wonderfulWiktionary, English wonderful. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1808, Richard Johnson, The famous Historie of the Seaven Champions of Christendome: “[…] wherein they were no sooner entered, but they…”

Formed from wonder + -ful

Proto-Germanic *wundrą ‘wonder’

Proto-West Germanic *wundr ‘marvel’

Old English wundor ‘wonder, miracle’

Middle English wonder ‘marvel’

English wonder

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *wundrafull

Today it means

adj Tending to excite wonder; surprising, extraordinary.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wonderful”. 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-West Germanic *wundrafull / wonderful

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