Etymograph

English

tease

Tease comes from Middle English tesen ‘to card wool’, from Old English tǣsan ‘to tease’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to separate, divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-‘to separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taisaną‘to tug, to pull’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taisijan‘to separate, tug, shred’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tǣsan‘to tease’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tesen‘to card wool’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1684tease

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-‘to separate, divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taisaną‘to tug, to pull’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taisijan‘to separate, tug, shred’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tǣsan‘to tease’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tesen‘to card wool’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1684tease

Earliest quotation: 1684, Samuel Butler: “Not by the force of carnal reason, / But…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to separate, divide’

time, till, demon, tide, til, daemon, tass, daimon, 24 more

Today it means

verb To separate the fibres of (a fibrous material).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- / tease

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