English
Finn
Finn comes from Old Norse finnr ‘a hunter-gatherer’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *finnaz ‘Sami? Finn?’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*finnaz‘Sami? Finn?’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350finnr‘a hunter-gatherer’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Finnas‘the Sami’
- Englishearliest quotation 1989Finn
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*finnaz‘Sami? Finn?’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350finnr‘a hunter-gatherer’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Finnas‘the Sami’
- Englishearliest quotation 1989Finn
Earliest quotation: 1989, Priit J. Vesilind, The Baltic: Arena of Power: “Culturally and economically Finland is a Western nation. But…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pent- ‘to pass’
find, path, patrol, pad, faze, pontiff, sputnik, pontoon, pons, pontifical, pontifex, 14 more
Today it means
noun A national of Finland.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *finnaz / Finn