Etymograph

English

behind

Behind comes from Middle English behinde, from Old English behindan ‘on the back side of, behind’, from Proto-West Germanic *bihindan (*bi- + *hindō ‘the hind side’).

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bihindan‘on the back side of, behind’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150behindan‘on the back side of, behind’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500behinde
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611behind

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bihindan‘on the back side of, behind’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150behindan‘on the back side of, behind’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500behinde
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611behind

Earliest quotation: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like…”

Formed from be- + hind

Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ‘at, near’

Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi

Proto-Germanic *bi ‘near, by’

Proto-Germanic *bi-

Proto-West Germanic *bi-

English be-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’

Proto-Indo-European *ḱem-ta- ‘down, below, with, far, along, against’

Old English hindan ‘at the rear, from behind’

Middle English hinde

English hind

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *bihindan

Today it means

prep At or to the back or far side of.

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

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *bihindan / behind

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