Etymograph

English

sail

Sail comes from Middle English saile, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *seglą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*segląreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*seglreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150seġl
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saile
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596sail

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*segląreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*seglreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150seġl
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saile
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596sail

Earliest quotation: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “When we haue laught to ſee the ſailes conceiue…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *seglą

Another origin of sail

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*siglijanreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150seġlan‘to sail’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sailen
  4. Englishtodaysail

Today it means

noun A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *seglą / sail

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