Etymograph

English

grin

Grin comes from Old English grennian ‘to bare the teeth due to anger, pain, etc’, from Proto-West Germanic *grannjōn ‘to howl’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *granjōną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*granjōną‘to howl’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grannjōn‘to howl’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150grennian‘to bare the teeth due to anger, pain, etc’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grinnen
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1591grin

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*granjōną‘to howl’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grannjōn‘to howl’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150grennian‘to bare the teeth due to anger, pain, etc’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grinnen
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1591grin

Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “The pangs of death do make him grin.”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *granjōną

Today it means

noun A smile in which the lips are parted to reveal the teeth.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *granjōną / grin

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