Etymograph

English

sword

Sword comes from West Midland Middle English sword, from Old English sweord, from Proto-Germanic *swerdą ‘sword’, possibly from PIE *seh₂w- ‘sharp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂w-‘sharp’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swerdą‘sword’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swerd‘sword’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweord‘sword’
  5. West Midland Middle Englishmodernsword
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1515–1516same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂w-‘sharp’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swerdą‘sword’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swerd‘sword’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweord‘sword’
  5. West Midland Middle Englishmodernsword
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1515–1516same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1515–1516, John Skelton: “Malicious tunges, though they have no bones, Are ſharper…”

The story

Inherited from West Midland Middle English sword (swerd in most dialects), from Old English sweord (‘sword’), from Proto-West Germanic *swerd (‘sword’), from Proto-Germanic *swerdą (‘sword’), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂w- (‘sharp’).

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂w-

Today it means

noun A long bladed weapon with a grip and typically a pommel and crossguard (together forming a hilt), which is designed to cut, stab, slash and/or hack.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₂w- / sword

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