Etymograph

English

endware

Endware comes from Old English ende ‘end, extremity’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂entíos ‘front’, and ultimately from *h₂ent-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ent-‘front’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂entíos‘front’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*andijaz‘the endpoint of something, whether the front end or back end’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*andī‘end’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ende‘end, extremity’
  6. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150*endewareliterally ‘village people’reconstructed
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same formreconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1577endware

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ent-‘front’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂entíos‘front’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*andijaz‘the endpoint of something, whether the front end or back end’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*andī‘end’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ende‘end, extremity’
  6. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150*endewareliterally ‘village people’reconstructed
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same formreconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1577endware

Earliest quotation: 1577, William Harrison, An Historicall Description of the Islande of Britayne, […]: “Yet herin I will commẽde manye of the monaſticall…”

The story

Inherited from Middle English *endeware, from Old English *endeware (literally “village people”), from ende (‘end, extremity’) + -ware (‘inhabitants’), metonymically extended from the inhabitants of a settlement to the settlement itself.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- ‘front’

and, answer, ancient, antique, ante, 8 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂entíos ‘front’

endlessly, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *andijaz ‘the endpoint of something, whether the front…’

ending, endless, ender, 3 more

through Old English ende ‘end, extremity’

end, 1 more

Today it means

noun A hamlet or township; a small settlement or locality.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- / endware

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