Etymograph

English

sallow

Sallow comes from Old English salu ‘dusky’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *selH-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selH-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*salwaz‘dusky, grey’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*salu‘dusky, grey’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150salu‘dusky’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500salowe
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595sallow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selH-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*salwaz‘dusky, grey’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*salu‘dusky, grey’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150salu‘dusky’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500salowe
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595sallow

Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Jesu Maria, what a deal of brine Hath wash’d…”.

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

Another origin of sallow

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂lk-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*salhazreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*salh‘willow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sealh‘willow, sallow’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500salow‘a willow’
  6. Englishtodaysallow

Today it means

adj Of a sickly pale colour.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *selH- / sallow

Shirt and support for this word