Etymograph

English

hive

Hive comes from Old English hȳf ‘beehive’, from Proto-Indo-European *kuHp- ‘water vessel’, and ultimately from *kew- ‘to bend, curve’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kew-‘to bend, curve’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kuHp-‘water vessel’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hūfi‘beehive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hȳf‘beehive’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hyve
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598hive

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kew-‘to bend, curve’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kuHp-‘water vessel’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hūfi‘beehive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hȳf‘beehive’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hyve
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598hive

Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder,…”

The story

The computing term was chosen as an in-joke relating to bees; see this for more.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kew- ‘to bend, curve’

hue, cwm

Today it means

noun A structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kew- / hive

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