Etymograph

English

Howe

Howe comes from Middle English hoʒe ‘steep ridge’, from Old English hoh ‘hock, heel’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kenk- ‘to feel hunger’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kenk-‘to feel hunger’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hanhaz‘heel’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hą̄h‘heel’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hoh‘hock, heel’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hoʒe‘steep ridge’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1909Howe

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kenk-‘to feel hunger’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hanhaz‘heel’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hą̄h‘heel’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hoh‘hock, heel’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hoʒe‘steep ridge’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1909Howe

Earliest quotation: 1909, New York: “The plot tells the story of two New York…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kenk- ‘to feel hunger’

hungry, hunger

through Proto-Germanic *hanhaz ‘heel’

heel

through Old English hoh ‘hock, heel’

how, hoo, hoe, hough, hock, 1 more

Today it means

name An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by a small hill.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kenk- / Howe

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