Etymograph

English

god

God comes from Old English god, from Proto-West Germanic *god, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gudą ‘god, deity’, whose earlier origin is unknown.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gudą‘god, deity’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*god‘god, deity’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150god‘god’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500god
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1530god

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gudą‘god, deity’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*god‘god, deity’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150god‘god’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500god
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1530god

Earliest quotation: 1530, William Tyndall, An aunſwere vnto Syr Thomas Mores Dialogue: “And ſuch is to beare yͤ names of god…”

The story

Inherited from Middle English god, from Old English god, originally neuter, then changed to masculine to reflect the change in religion to Christianity, from Proto-West Germanic *god n, from Proto-Germanic *gudą; see there for further origin.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- ‘to pour’

chemist, futile, gust, futility, gush, geyser, ingot, 23 more

through Proto-West Germanic *god ‘god, deity’

giddy, 1 more

through Old English god

good, 3 more

Today it means

noun A deity or supreme being; a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers, to which personhood is attributed.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *gudą / god

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