Etymograph

English

fir

Fir comes from Middle English firre ‘fir (Abies spp.)’, from Proto-West Germanic *furhu ‘pine’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- ‘oak’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perkʷ-‘oak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*furhō‘fir, pine’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*furhu‘pine’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150furh‘fir, pine’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500firre‘fir (Abies spp.)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1907fir

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perkʷ-‘oak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*furhō‘fir, pine’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*furhu‘pine’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150furh‘fir, pine’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500firre‘fir (Abies spp.)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1907fir

Earliest quotation: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled…”

The story

Possibly conflated during Middle English with Old Norse fýri (as in fýriskógr (‘pine-wood’). Germanic cognates include Dutch vuren, Low German Fuhr, German Föhre (‘pine’), Danish fyr). Outside of Germanic, compare Italian (Trentino) porca (‘fir’), Latin quercus (‘oak’), Albanian shpardh, shparr (‘Italian oak’), Punjabi ਪਰਗਾਇ (pargāī, “holm oak, Quercus baloot”)).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- ‘oak’

ever, farm, forest, firm, 1 more

through Proto-West Germanic *furhu ‘pine’

frith, firth

through Old English furh ‘fir, pine’

furlong, furrow

Today it means

noun A conifer of the genus Abies.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- / fir

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