Etymograph

English

yellow

Yellow comes from Middle English yelwe, from Old English ġeolwe, oblique form of ġeolu ‘yellow’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-1‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃wós1‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gelwaz1‘yellow’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gelu1‘yellow’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeolu1‘yellow’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yelwe1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1667yellow1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English yellow
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book X: “A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought / First…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-Wiktionary, English yellow‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃wósWiktionary, English yellow‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gelwazWiktionary, English yellow‘yellow’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*geluWiktionary, English yellow‘yellow’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeoluWiktionary, English yellow‘yellow’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yelweWiktionary, English yellow
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1667yellowWiktionary, English yellow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book X: “A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought / First…”

The story

Not related to Italian giallo—see galbinus.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’

gold, fell, cholera, chlorine, gall, gullible, glib, felon, choline, gild, zloty, chlorella, 27 more

through Old English ġeolu

yolk

Today it means

noun The color of sunflower petals and lemons; the color obtained by mixing green and red light, or by subtracting blue from white light; the color evoked by light of wavelength around 580 nm; one of the three primary colors in subtractive color systems.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “yellow”. 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 *ǵʰelh₃- / yellow

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