Etymograph

English

sunder

Sunder comes from Middle English sundren ‘to separate, part, divide’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sen(e)-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sen(e)-‘separate, without’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sundrōną‘to separate’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sundrian‘to separate, split, part, divide’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sundren‘to separate, part, divide’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1788sunder

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sen(e)-‘separate, without’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sundrōną‘to separate’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sundrian‘to separate, split, part, divide’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sundren‘to separate, part, divide’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1788sunder

Earliest quotation: 1788, William Marshall: “Where a fair opportunity offers, and the grass is…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *sen(e)-

Today it means

verb To break or separate or to break apart, especially with force.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sen(e)- / sunder

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