Etymograph

English

Umwelt

Umwelt comes from German Umwelt ‘environment’, from Welt ‘world’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weraldiz‘lifetime, worldly existence’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*weraldi‘world’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050wëralt‘world’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350wëlt
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentWelt‘world’
  6. German, derivedc. 1650–presentUmwelt‘environment’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1979same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weraldiz‘lifetime, worldly existence’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*weraldi‘world’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050wëralt‘world’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350wëlt
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentWelt‘world’
  6. German, derivedc. 1650–presentUmwelt‘environment’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1979same form

Earliest quotation: 1979, Kyril Bonfiglioli, After You with the Pistol: “It seems that these S-E-A-Values are all about what…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz

Today it means

noun One's surroundings or environment; the outer world as perceived by organisms within it.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *weraldiz / Umwelt

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