Etymograph

English

garage

Garage comes from French garage ‘keeping under cover, protection, shelter’, from Old Norse varask ‘to defend oneself’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wer-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wer-‘to close, cover, protect, save, defend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*warjaną‘to defend, ward off’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350vara‘to ware, watch out, defend’
  4. Old Norse, derivedc. 800–1350varask‘to defend oneself’reflexive of vara
  5. Frankishc. 250–700*warjanreconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400garir
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600garer
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentgarer‘to keep under cover, dock, shunt, guard, keep’
  9. French, derivedc. 1600–presentgarage‘keeping under cover, protection, shelter’derivative of garer
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1931garage

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wer-‘to close, cover, protect, save, defend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*warjaną‘to defend, ward off’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350vara‘to ware, watch out, defend’
  4. Old Norse, derivedc. 800–1350varask‘to defend oneself’reflexive of vara
  5. Frankishc. 250–700*warjanreconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400garir
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600garer
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentgarer‘to keep under cover, dock, shunt, guard, keep’
  9. French, derivedc. 1600–presentgarage‘keeping under cover, protection, shelter’derivative of garer
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1931garage

Earliest quotation: 1931, Francis Beeding, 2/2: “A little further on, to the right, was a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to close, cover, protect, save, defend’

guard, con, reward, ward, regard, worm, warn, optic, beware, verge, malware, ware, reverence, panorama, revere, vermin, wry, vermilion, prosaic, milliner, diorama, vermicelli, vermeil, vermiculite, varmint, 66 more

through Proto-Germanic *warjaną ‘to defend, ward off’

wear, weir, 4 more

through Frankish *warjan

garrison, guaranty, 3 more

Today it means

noun A building (or section of a building) used to store a car or cars, tools and other miscellaneous items.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wer- / garage

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