English
forcarve
Forcarve comes from Middle English forkerven ‘to divide, separate, cleave’, from Old English forceorfan ‘to cut through, cut off, cut away, cut down’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to scratch’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kerbaną‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kerban‘to carve, to cut’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ċeorfan‘to cut’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150forceorfan‘to cut through, cut off, cut away, cut down’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forkerven‘to divide, separate, cleave’
- Englishtodayforcarve
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kerbaną‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kerban‘to carve, to cut’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ċeorfan‘to cut’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150forceorfan‘to cut through, cut off, cut away, cut down’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forkerven‘to divide, separate, cleave’
- Englishtodayforcarve
Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘before, in front of’
Proto-Germanic *fra- ‘off, away’
Proto-West Germanic *fra- ‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or…’
English for-
Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to scratch’
Proto-Germanic *kerbaną ‘to cut’
Proto-West Germanic *kerban ‘to carve, to cut’
Old English ċeorfan ‘to cut’
Middle English kerven ‘to cut into’
English carve
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to scratch’
photo, graphic, cinema, grammar, crawl, crab, graffiti, graft, graphite, graphene, demography, crawfish, grimoire, ultrasonography, epigraph, epigram, sonography, 82 more
Today it means
verb To cut through, cut completely; to carve up; to cut off.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- / forcarve