Etymograph

English

moan

Moan comes from Middle English mone ‘a lamentation’, from Proto-Germanic *mainō ‘opinion’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *moy(-)n-éh₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*moy(-)n-éh₂reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mainō‘opinion’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mainureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mānreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mone‘a lamentation’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596moan

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*moy(-)n-éh₂reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mainō‘opinion’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mainureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*mānreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mone‘a lamentation’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596moan

Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book VI, Canto VII: “Much did the Craven seeme to mone his case…”

The story

Old English *mān, *mǣn is inferred from Old English mǣnan (‘to complain over; grieve; mourn’).

Linked words

through Middle English mone ‘a lamentation’

moon, mun, mone, 2 more

Today it means

noun A low, mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *moy(-)n-éh₂ / moan

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