English
green
Green comes from Old English grēne, from Proto-Germanic *grōniz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-‘to grow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*gróh₁nisreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grōnizreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grōnīreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150grēne
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grene
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606green
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-‘to grow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*gróh₁nisreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grōnizreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grōnīreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150grēne
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grene
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606green
Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “to look so green and pale”.
The story
The sense of obscene, pornographic, or sexual in the Philippines is a semantic loan from Spanish verde. In other varieties of English, blue is the color instead associated with obscenity or pornography.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow’
grow, grass, herb, arbor, gourmet, groom, graze, yerba, ambergris, greedily, 18 more
Another origin of green
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grōnijōną‘to become green’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grōnijan‘to make green, paint green’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150grēnian‘to become green, flourish’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grenen
- Englishtodaygreen
Today it means
noun The color of grass and leaves; a primary additive color midway between yellow and blue which is evoked by light between roughly 495–570 nm.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- / green