English
grue
Grue comes from Middle English gruen.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gruen
- Englishearliest quotation 1822grue
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gruen
- Englishearliest quotation 1822grue
Earliest quotation: 1822, Walter Scott, The Pirate. […]: “["]I would have done Mr. Mordaunt's bidding too," he…”
The story
From Middle English gruen, probably from Middle Low German gruwen or Middle Dutch gruwen (compare Dutch gruwen), both from Proto-Germanic *grūwijaną, perhaps ultimately an imitative derivative of Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (‘to bristle’), or instead from *gʰer- (‘to rub, stroke, grind’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ‘to rub, stroke, grind’
grand, grill, charismatic, greedy, grit, yearn, chromatic, growl, yar, grime, ochre, grout, grisly, grimace, grist, exhort, 16 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- ‘to bristle’
Today it means
verb To be frightened; also, to shudder with fear; to quake, to tremble.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English gruen / grue