Etymograph

English

hay

Hay comes from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną ‘to hew, cut down’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kewh₂-‘to beat, hew, forge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hawwaną‘to hew, cut down’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hawjąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hawireconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hīeġ
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hey
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1605hay

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kewh₂-‘to beat, hew, forge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hawwaną‘to hew, cut down’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hawjąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hawireconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hīeġ
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hey
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1605hay

Earliest quotation: 1605, M. N. pseudonym; William Camden, Remaines of a Greater Worke: “Make hay while sunne shines.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- ‘to beat, hew, forge’

code, coward, 6 more

through Proto-Germanic *hawwaną ‘to hew, cut down’

hog, hoe, hew, hag, haggis, 2 more

through Proto-West Germanic *hawi

hoy

through Middle English hey

hey, hi

Today it means

noun Grass cut and dried for use as animal fodder.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- / hay

Shirt and support for this word