Etymograph

English

egg

Egg comes from Middle English eg, borrowed from Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm ‘egg’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ōwyóm‘egg’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ajją‘egg’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350egg‘egg’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eg‘egg of a domestic or wild fowl’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1535egg

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ōwyóm‘egg’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ajją‘egg’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350egg‘egg’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eg‘egg of a domestic or wild fowl’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1535egg

Earliest quotation: 1535, Myles Coverdale: “The Eſtrich (whoſe fethers are fayrer thẽ yᵉ wynges…”

The story

The noun is derived from Middle English eg, egg, egge (‘egg of a domestic or wild fowl; egg of a snake’) [and other forms] (originally Northern England and Northeast Midlands), from Old Norse egg (‘egg’), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (‘egg’) (by Holtzmann’s law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (‘egg’), probably from *h₂éwis (‘bird’), from *h₂ew- (‘to consume’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- ‘to consume’

audience, ear, audit, acoustic, obey, avid, audible, anesthesia, ovation, aural, avarice, otolaryngology, 66 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwis ‘bird’

aviation, avian, auspicious, aviator, aviary, ocarina, 11 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm

love, oval, 5 more

through Proto-Germanic *ajją

ey, 1 more

Another origin of egg

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-‘sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*agjō‘a corner’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350egg‘an edge’
  4. Old Norse, derivedc. 800–1350eggja‘to incite, egg on’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150eggian‘to egg, excite’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eggen‘to urge on’
  7. Englishtodayegg

Today it means

noun An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell during its development.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm / egg

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