Etymograph

English

gravel

Gravel comes from Old French grave ‘gravel, seashore’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰroh₁weh₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰroh₁weh₂reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*grāwā‘gravel, pebbles’reconstructed
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500grava
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400grave‘gravel, seashore’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400gravelediminutive of grave
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gravel
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1579same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰroh₁weh₂reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*grāwā‘gravel, pebbles’reconstructed
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500grava
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400grave‘gravel, seashore’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400gravelediminutive of grave
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gravel
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1579same form

Earliest quotation: 1579, Sir Thomas North, Plutarch's Lives: “The physician was so gravelled and amazed withal, that…”

Linked words

through Old French grave ‘gravel, seashore’

gravy

Today it means

noun Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰroh₁weh₂ / gravel

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