Etymograph

English

go

Go comes from Old English gān ‘to go’, from Proto-West Germanic *gān ‘to go’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-1‘to leave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gāną1‘to go’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gān1‘to go’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gān1‘to go’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gon1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1485go1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English go
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur: “‘As for that,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘I may chose…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-Wiktionary, English go‘to leave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gānąWiktionary, English go‘to go’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gānWiktionary, English go‘to go’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gānWiktionary, English go‘to go’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gonWiktionary, English go
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1485goWiktionary, English go. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur: “‘As for that,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘I may chose…”

The story

The inherited past tense form yode (compare Old English ēode) was replaced through suppletion in the 15th century by went, from Old English wendan (‘to go, depart, wend’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave’

heritage, heir, inherit, hereditary, heredity, 20 more

through Old English gān ‘to go’

forego, 3 more

through Middle English gon

gone

Another origin of go

  1. Chinesemodern圍棋literally ‘encirclement board game’
  2. Englishtodaygo

Today it means

verb To move, either physically or in an abstract sense: To move through space (especially to or through a place). (May be used of tangible things such as people or cars, or intangible things such as moods or information.)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “go”. 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 *ǵʰeh₁- / go

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