Etymograph

English

high

High comes from Old English hēah ‘high, tall, lofty, high-class, exalted,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kewk- ‘to bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kewk-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hauhazreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hauhreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēah‘high’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500high
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kewk-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hauhazreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hauhreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēah‘high’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500high
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591same form

Earliest quotation: 1591, Henry Barrow, A Plaine Refutation of M. G. Giffardes reprochful booke […]: “Furder, what wil you answeare for your keping a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kewk- ‘to bend’

huge, haughty, 7 more

through Proto-Germanic *hauhaz

height, 5 more

Today it means

adj Physically elevated, extending above a base or average level: Very elevated; extending or being far above a base; tall; lofty.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kewk- / high

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