English
holy
Holy comes from Old English hāleġ ‘holy, sacred’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kéh₂ilos‘intact’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hailaz‘healthy’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hailagaz‘holy’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hailag‘holy’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hāleġ‘holy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ali
- Englishearliest quotation 1877holy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kéh₂ilos‘intact’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hailaz‘healthy’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hailagaz‘holy’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hailag‘holy’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hāleġ‘holy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ali
- Englishearliest quotation 1877holy
Earliest quotation: 1877, E.B. Browning, Some account of the Greek Christian poets: “... where he and Basil read together poems and…”
Formed from whole + -y
Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos ‘healthy’
Proto-Germanic *hailaz ‘whole’
Proto-West Germanic *hail ‘healthy’
Old English hāl ‘healthy’
Middle English whol ‘healthy’
English whole
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos ‘intact, whole’
through Proto-Germanic *hailaz ‘healthy’
health, whole, healing, hail, hale, hallowed, heil, 3 more
through Proto-Germanic *hailagaz ‘holy, sacred’
Today it means
adj Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos / holy