Etymograph

English

hound

Hound comes from Middle English hound ‘a hunting or sporting dog’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱwṓ‘dog’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hundaz‘dog’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hund‘dog’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hund
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hound‘a hunting or sporting dog’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609hound

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱwṓ‘dog’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hundaz‘dog’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hund‘dog’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hund
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hound‘a hunting or sporting dog’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609hound

Earliest quotation: c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus: “Boy! false hound!”

The story

In 14th-century England, hound was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog (much as the distinction between Hund and Dogge in contemporary German). By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘livestock’

fight, fellow, peculiar, fax, feudal, fawn, fain, 25 more

through Proto-Indo-European *péḱu ‘livestock’

fee, feud, feu, pec, pecuniary, 13 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ ‘dog’

cynical, canine, kennel, cynic, chenille, 10 more

through Proto-West Germanic *hund ‘dog’

poodle

Another origin of hound

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hounden
  2. Englishtodayhound

Another origin of hound

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-‘to swell’root as named
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱūnós‘swollen’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hūnaz‘something swollen’uncertain
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350húnn‘a bear cub’uncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hownde
  6. Englishtodayhound

Today it means

noun A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ / hound

Shirt and support for this word