Etymograph

English

daw

Daw comes from Proto-West Germanic *dāhwā ‘jackdaw’.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dāhwā‘jackdaw’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*dāwereconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dawe
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512daw

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dāhwā‘jackdaw’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*dāwereconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dawe
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512daw

Earliest quotation: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “Therefore to make complaynt Of such mysadvysed Parsons and…”

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *dāhwā

Another origin of daw

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰegʷʰ-‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dagaz‘day’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dagāną‘to become day, dawn’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dagēn‘to dawn, to become day’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150dagian‘to dawn’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dawen‘to dawn’
  7. Englishtodaydaw

Today it means

noun A western jackdaw, Coloeus monedula, a passerine bird in the crow family (Corvidae), more commonly called jackdaw.

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

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *dāhwā / daw

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