Etymograph

English

bulwark

Bulwark comes from Middle Dutch bolwerk, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-‘to make’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500bolwerk
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bulwerk
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588bulwark

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-‘to make’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500bolwerk
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bulwerk
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588bulwark

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Let thouſands die, their ſlaughtered Carkaſſes Shal ſerue for…”

Formed from bole ‘tree trunk’ + work

Proto-Germanic *bulaz ‘trunk’

Old Norse bolr ‘trunk’

Middle English bole ‘trunk, bole’

English bole

Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’

…

Proto-Germanic *werką

Proto-West Germanic *werk

Old English weorc ‘labor’

Middle English work

English work

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’

work, energy, organic, wright, organ, energetic, orgasm, allergy, wrought, boulevard, liturgy, metallurgy, argon, erg, werk, irksome, irk, 23 more

Today it means

noun A defensive wall or rampart.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- / bulwark

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