Etymograph

English

roof

Roof comes from Old English hrōf ‘roof’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱrapo-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱrapo-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrōfąreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrōfreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrōf‘roof’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rhof
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1857roof

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱrapo-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrōfąreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrōfreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrōf‘roof’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rhof
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1857roof

Earliest quotation: 1857, Thomas Hughes: “Tom thought his cap a very knowing affair, but…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *ḱrapo-

Another origin of roof

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krāwə-‘to cover, heap’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*krāpo-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrōfąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrōfreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrōf
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rof‘the outside of a roof’
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500rofen‘to roof’
  8. Englishtodayroof

Today it means

noun The external covering at the top of a building.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱrapo- / roof

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