English
Whitney
Whitney comes from Old English hwītan ‘weak accusative masculine/feminine singular’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hwītan‘weak accusative masculine/feminine singular’
- Englishearliest quotation 1993Whitney
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hwītan‘weak accusative masculine/feminine singular’
- Englishearliest quotation 1993Whitney
Earliest quotation: 1993, James Crumley, The Mexican Tree Duck: “I don't believe I've ever known a woman named…”
A compound of hwīt ‘white’ + īeġ ‘island’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱweytōr
Proto-Germanic *hwītaz ‘white’
Proto-West Germanic *hwīt ‘white’
Old English hwīt ‘white’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂
Proto-Germanic *ahwō ‘river’
Proto-Germanic *awjō ‘floodplain’
Proto-West Germanic *auwju ‘floodplain, meadow’
Old English īeġ ‘island’
Every English word from Old English hwītan
Today it means
name A habitational surname from Middle English.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English hwītan / Whitney