Etymograph

English

row

Row comes from Middle English rewe ‘row’, from Old English rǣw ‘row, line’, from Proto-Germanic *raiwō, from *rīgǭ ‘row, line’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyk-‘to line up; to arrange’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hréykōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīgǭ‘row, line’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raiwōreconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raiwureconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣw‘row, line’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rewe‘row’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611row

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreyk-‘to line up; to arrange’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hréykōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rīgǭ‘row, line’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*raiwōreconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*raiwureconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣw‘row, line’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rewe‘row’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611row

Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And there were windows in three rows.”

Linked words

through Middle English rewe ‘row, ordered arrangement’

ruth, rue, ruefully, rowed, 6 more

Another origin of row

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁reh₁-‘to row’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rōaną‘to row’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rōwan‘to row’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rowen‘to row’
  5. Englishtodayrow

Today it means

noun A line of objects, often regularly spaced, such as seats in a theatre, vegetable plants in a garden, etc.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *Hreyk- / row

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