Etymograph

English

hovel

Hovel comes from Old English *hof ‘structure, building, house’, from Proto-Germanic *hufą ‘hill, farm’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- ‘arch, bend, buckle’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kewp-‘arch, bend, buckle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hufą‘hill, farm’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hofreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150same form‘structure, building, house’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hovel
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kewp-‘arch, bend, buckle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hufą‘hill, farm’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hofreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150same form‘structure, building, house’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hovel
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “To hovel thee with swine, and rogues forlorn.”

Formed from howf + -el

Scots howf ‘an open space which is enclosed’

English howf

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kewp- ‘arch, bend, buckle’

cowl, hoover, 3 more

through Proto-West Germanic *hof

hof, 1 more

through Old English *hof ‘structure, building, house’

hoof, 1 more

Today it means

noun An open shed for sheltering cattle, or protecting produce, etc., from the weather.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kewp- / hovel

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