Etymograph

English

red

Red comes from Middle English red ‘red, crimson, scarlet (in color)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rewdʰ-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rowdʰósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raudazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raudreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150rēad
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500red‘red’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599red

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rewdʰ-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rowdʰósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raudazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raudreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150rēad
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500red‘red’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599red

Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “Your colour, I warrant you, is as red as…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-

ruby, rust, rowan, rouse, russel, roux, ruddy, corroborate, rubric, roan, rubella, russet, erythema, robusta, rud, ruddock, 34 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós

rufous, 3 more

through Old English rēad

redness

through Middle English red ‘red, crimson, scarlet (in color)’

reed, reddish, rede

Today it means

noun The colour of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the colour which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive colour.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- / red

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