Etymograph

English

duvet

Duvet comes from French duvet ‘down’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘to smoke, fume, raise dust’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-‘to smoke, fume, raise dust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dūnaz‘down’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350dúnn‘down, down feather’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dun‘down, feathers’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400duvet‘down, the feathers of young birds’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600duvet
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentduvet‘down’
  8. Englishtodayduvet

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-‘to smoke, fume, raise dust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dūnaz‘down’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350dúnn‘down, down feather’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dun‘down, feathers’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400duvet‘down, the feathers of young birds’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600duvet
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentduvet‘down’
  8. Englishtodayduvet

The story

From French duvet, from Middle French duvet, from Old French duvet (‘down, the feathers of young birds’), alteration of dumet, dumect, which in turn derives from dum, dun (‘down, feathers’), from Old Norse dúnn (‘down, down feather’), from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (‘down’), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (‘to smoke, fume, raise dust’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘to smoke, fume, raise dust’

steam, dye, funk, dew, dune, dun, dag, fume, thymus, obfuscate, fumigation, typhon, 27 more

through Old Norse dúnn ‘down, down feather’

down, 1 more

Today it means

noun A quilt or usually flat cloth bag with a filling (traditionally down) and usually an additional washable cover, used instead of blankets; often called a comforter or quilt, especially in US English.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- / duvet

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