English
stream
Stream comes from Old English strēam, from Proto-Germanic *straumaz ‘stream’, from Proto-Indo-European *srowmos ‘river’, from *srew- ‘to flow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-‘to flow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*srowmos‘river’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*straumazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*straumreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150strēam
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500streem
- Englishearliest quotation 1667stream
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-‘to flow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*srowmos‘river’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*straumazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*straumreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150strēam
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500streem
- Englishearliest quotation 1667stream
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book VII: “beneath those banks where rivers now stream”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to flow’
service, series, sort, serve, hero, conservative, desert, insert, reservoir, assertion, sermon, conservatism, exert, assertive, sorcery, concierge, heresy, observant, servitude, sorcerer, heretic, sark, conservator, servile, serf, strudel, sere, 34 more
through Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow’
rhythm, rheumatism, rheumatic, rheumatology, maelstrom, hemorrhoid, rheology, 43 more
Today it means
noun A small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *srew- / stream