English
build
Build comes from Middle English bilden, from Old English byldan, from Proto-Germanic *buþlą, from PIE *bʰuH- ‘to become’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-‘to become’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*buþląreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buþlijan‘to build’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150byldan
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bilden
- Englishearliest quotation 1596build
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-‘to become’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*buþląreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buþlijan‘to build’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150byldan
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bilden
- Englishearliest quotation 1596build
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto X: “It was a bridge ybuilt in goodly wize, /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to become, grow, thrive, be, live, dwell’
be, been, power, possible, future, present, physical, improve, presence, essential, bond, bound, absence, physician, contribution, bush, entity, booth, approve, absent, favorable, probability, fiat, distribute, contributor, favourable, bouquet, imp, retribution, attribution, bun, impotent, bower, impossibility, rebuke, aren, beamer, bosque, phylogeny, physic, 85 more
Today it means
verb To form (something) by combining materials or parts.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- / build