Etymograph

English

agenbite

Agenbite comes from Middle English ayenbite ‘remorse’, from Old English agēn ‘again, eft, back’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *in gagin.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*in gaginreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150onġēan‘again, eft, back’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150agēn‘again, eft, back’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ayenbite‘remorse’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1922agenbite

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*in gaginreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150onġēan‘again, eft, back’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150agēn‘again, eft, back’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ayenbite‘remorse’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1922agenbite

Earliest quotation: 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses: “Speaking to me. They wash and tub and scrub.…”

Linked words

through Old English onġēan ‘again, eft, back’

against, again, agin, 1 more

through Old English agēn ‘again, eft, back’

own

Today it means

noun Remorse, ayenbite.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *in gagin / agenbite

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