Etymograph

English

borrow

Borrow comes from Middle English borwen ‘to borrow money while depositing a security’, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną ‘to pledge, take care of’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰergʰ-‘to take care’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burgōną‘to pledge, take care of’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*borgōn‘to borrow, lend’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150borgian‘to borrow, lend, pledge surety for’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500borwen‘to borrow money while depositing a security’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590borrow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰergʰ-‘to take care’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burgōną‘to pledge, take care of’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*borgōn‘to borrow, lend’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150borgian‘to borrow, lend, pledge surety for’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500borwen‘to borrow money while depositing a security’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1590borrow

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto XII: “borrowed hair”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- ‘to take care’

bargain, bury, 1 more

Today it means

verb To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- / borrow

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