Etymograph

English

drive

Drive comes from Middle English driven ‘to drive’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰreybʰ-‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drībaną‘to drive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*drīban‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150drīfan‘to drive’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500driven‘to drive’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1580drive

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰreybʰ-‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drībaną‘to drive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*drīban‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150drīfan‘to drive’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500driven‘to drive’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1580drive

Earliest quotation: c. 1580, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., (please specify the folio): “He driuen to dismount, threatned, if I did not…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- ‘to drive, push’

drift, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *drībaną ‘to drive’

driving, 2 more

through Old English drīfan ‘to drive, force, move’

drove, 3 more

Today it means

verb To operate a vehicle: To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- / drive

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