English
draw
Draw comes from Middle English dragen ‘to drag, pull’, from Proto-West Germanic *dragan ‘to carry, haul’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *draganą.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draganą‘to carry’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dragan‘to carry’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dragan‘to drag’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dragen‘to drag’
- Englishearliest quotation 1569draw
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draganą‘to carry’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dragan‘to carry’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dragan‘to drag’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dragen‘to drag’
- Englishearliest quotation 1569draw
Earliest quotation: 1569, Richard Grafton, Richarde the Seconde: “And if any manner of perſon attempted to moue…”
The story
The verb is derived from Middle English dragen, draghen, draue, drauen, drauhen, drawe, drawen, draȝe, draȝen, draȝhenn (‘to drag, pull; to draw (out); to attract; to entice, lure; to lead; to make a drawing; to move, travel; etc.’), from Old English dragan (‘to drag, draw’), from Proto-West Germanic *dragan (‘to carry, haul’), from Proto-Germanic *draganą (‘to carry, draw, pull’); further etymology uncertain, often said to be from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (‘to drag, pull, run’), but possibly from a non-Indo-European substrate root which is also the source of Latin trahō (‘to pull, draw; etc.’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- ‘to drag, pull, run’
train, attractive, retreat, portrait, attraction, extraction, distraction, tract, draught, entreat, 53 more
through Proto-Germanic *draganą ‘to carry, draw, pull’
through Middle English dragen ‘to drag, pull’
Today it means
verb To pull (someone or something) in a particular direction or manner.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *draganą / draw