English
hedge
Hedge comes from Middle English hegge ‘a hedge’, from Old English heċġ ‘fence’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- ‘to keep, enclose’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰ-‘to keep, enclose’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰyóm‘enclosure’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hagjōreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haggjureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150heċġ‘fence’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hegge‘a hedge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603hedge
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰ-‘to keep, enclose’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰyóm‘enclosure’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hagjōreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haggjureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150heċġ‘fence’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hegge‘a hedge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603hedge
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “Attalus[…]made him so dead-drunke that insensibly and without feeling…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- ‘to keep, enclose’
through Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm ‘enclosure’
through Proto-West Germanic *haggju
Another origin of hedge
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰ-‘to keep, enclose’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kagʰyóm‘enclosure’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hagjōreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haggjureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150heċġ‘fence’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hegge
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500heggen‘to hedge’
- Englishtodayhedge
Today it means
noun A thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- / hedge