Etymograph

English

halter

Halter comes from Middle English halter ‘a halter’, from Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā ‘harness’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelH-‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*halftrijā‘harness’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hælfter
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halter‘a halter’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1603halter

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelH-‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*halftrijā‘harness’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hælfter
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halter‘a halter’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1603halter

Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “And Crates said, that love was cured with hunger,…”

Formed from half + ter

Proto-Germanic *halbaz

Proto-West Germanic *halb

Old English healf

Middle English half

English half

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut’

half, skill, shell, shield, skull, shilling, shale, schilling, shoal, shelve, schelling, halve, hapa, 14 more

Today it means

noun A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- / halter

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