English
fowl
Fowl comes from Middle English foul ‘a bird’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *fuglaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuglaz‘bird’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fugl‘bird’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150fugol‘bird’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foul‘a bird’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485fowl
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuglaz‘bird’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fugl‘bird’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150fugol‘bird’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foul‘a bird’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485fowl
Earliest quotation: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory: “And now I take vpon me the aduentures of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘flow’
flow, pneumonia, plutonium, plough, flue, plover, plutocracy, 24 more
through Proto-Indo-European *plewk- ‘to fly, flow, run’
through Proto-Germanic *fleuganą ‘to fly’
flight, fly, flew, flown, flay, 4 more
through Proto-West Germanic *fugl ‘bird’
Today it means
noun Any bird.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *fuglaz / fowl