Etymograph

English

ey

Ey comes from Old English ǣġ ‘egg’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ōwyóm‘egg’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ajją‘egg’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*aij‘egg’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣġ‘egg’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ei
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1787ey

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ōwyóm‘egg’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ajją‘egg’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*aij‘egg’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ǣġ‘egg’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ei
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1787ey

Earliest quotation: 1787, originally 1381: “Take brothe of capons withoute herbes, and breke eyren,…”

The story

Inherited from Middle English ei, ey, from Old English ǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją (‘egg’), 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, avid, audible, anesthesia, ovation, obey, aural, avarice, otolaryngology, 66 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwis ‘bird’

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

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm ‘egg’

love, oval, 5 more

through Proto-Germanic *ajją ‘egg’

egg, 1 more

through Middle English ei

ay

Another origin of ey

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ékʷeh₂‘flowing water’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*awjō‘watery land, floodplain, island’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*auwju‘floodplain, meadow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēġ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ei
  6. Englishtodayey

Inherited from Middle English ei, i, ie, from Old English ēġ, īġ, īeġ, from Proto-West Germanic *auwju, from Proto-Germanic *awjō (‘watery land, floodplain, island’), earlier *agwjō ~ *ahwjō (literally “(that which is) of the water”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂ (‘flowing water’) + *-yeh₂.

Today it means

noun An egg.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm / ey

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