Etymograph

English

guide

Guide comes from Old French guide ‘a guide’, from Frankish *wītan ‘to show the way, lead’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see, know’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wītaną‘to see’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wītan‘to show the way’reconstructed
  4. Old Occitanc. 950–1500guidar
  5. Old Occitan, derivedc. 950–1500guida
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guide‘a guide’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wītaną‘to see’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wītan‘to show the way’reconstructed
  4. Old Occitanc. 950–1500guidar
  5. Old Occitan, derivedc. 950–1500guida
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guide‘a guide’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “He will be our guide, even unto death.”

The story

Related also to English wit.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see, know’

story, review, visit, advice, interview, video, evidence, idea, provide, vision, witness, wise, historic, wisdom, visa, advise, invisible, wit, wizard, historian, visibility, vista, idol, witty, evident, revise, envious, prudent, steroid, revue, improvise, tabloid, jurisprudence, avis, guise, prudence, purview, voyeur, proviso, purveyor, 118 more

through Proto-Germanic *wītaną ‘to see, know’

twit, 2 more

through Frankish *wītan ‘to show the way, lead’

guy

Another origin of guide

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-‘to see, know’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wītaną‘to see, know’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wītan‘to show the way, lead’reconstructed
  4. Old Occitanc. 950–1500guidar
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guider
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500guiden
  7. Englishtodayguide

Today it means

noun Someone who guides, especially someone hired to show people around a place or an institution and offer information and explanation, or to lead them through dangerous terrain.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyd- / guide

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