English
choose
Choose comes from Middle English chesen ‘to choose’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- ‘to taste, try’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵews-‘to taste’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵéwseti‘to choose’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*keusaną‘to test’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*keusan‘to choose’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ċēosan‘to choose’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chesen‘to choose’
- Englishearliest quotation 1739choose
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵews-‘to taste’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵéwseti‘to choose’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*keusaną‘to test’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*keusan‘to choose’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ċēosan‘to choose’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chesen‘to choose’
- Englishearliest quotation 1739choose
Earliest quotation: 1739, David Hume, Of the Influencing Motives of the Will: “Secondly, VVhen in exerting any paſſion in action, vve…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- ‘to taste, try’
cost, choice, disgust, gust, 17 more
through Old English ċēosan ‘to choose, seek out, select, elect, decide,…’
Today it means
verb To pick; to make the choice of; to select.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- / choose