English
betroth
Betroth comes from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō ‘contract’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dóru ‘tree’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dóru‘tree’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*triwwiþō‘contract’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150trīewþ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bitrouthen
- Englishearliest quotation 1566betroth
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dóru‘tree’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*triwwiþō‘contract’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150trīewþ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bitrouthen
- Englishearliest quotation 1566betroth
Earliest quotation: 1566, Euripides, Iocasta: A Tragedie Written in Greke by Euripides, […]: “To priuate fight they haue betroutht themſelues, / Of…”
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 *drewH-
Proto-Germanic *triwwiz ‘true, faithful’
Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō ‘contract’
Old English trēowþ ‘truth, veracity’
Middle English troth
English troth
The story
From Middle English bitrouthen, bitreuthen (‘of a man: to pledge to marry; to give (a woman) in marriage, arrange the marriage of’), from bi- (prefix forming transitive verbs from nouns) + trouth, treuthe (‘faithfulness, fidelity, specifically marital fidelity; promise, undertaking, specifically a promise of marriage; truth; etc.’) (from Old English trīewþ, trēowþ (‘fidelity; good faith, honour; assurance of good faith, covenant, troth; truth’), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō (‘contract; promise’), from Proto-Indo-European *dóru (‘tree; hence, firm, hard; faithful, true’)), possibly modelled after Old English trēowsian (‘to pledge oneself; to prove oneself to be true’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dóru ‘tree’
tree, dory, trough, druid, dinghy, dendritic, larch, dendrite, 4 more
through Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō ‘contract’
Today it means
verb Of a man: to promise to take (a woman) as a future spouse; to plight one's troth to.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dóru / betroth