Etymograph

English

smear

Smear comes from Old English smerian ‘to anoint or rub with grease, oil, etc’, from Proto-West Germanic *smirwijan ‘to smear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smérus ‘grease, fat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smérus‘grease, fat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smerwą‘butter, grease’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smirwijaną‘to smear, anoint’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*smirwijan‘to smear’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150smerian‘to anoint or rub with grease, oil, etc’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smeren
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1583smear

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smérus‘grease, fat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smerwą‘butter, grease’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smirwijaną‘to smear, anoint’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*smirwijan‘to smear’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150smerian‘to anoint or rub with grease, oil, etc’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smeren
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1583smear

Earliest quotation: 1583, Arthur Golding, London: George Bishop: “A man may bee smeared or grimed, and euerie…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *smérus ‘grease, fat’

myron, 5 more

Today it means

verb To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *smérus / smear

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