English
teat
Teat comes from Middle English tete, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *tittaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tittazreconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*tittāreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tete
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1936teat
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tittazreconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*tittāreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tete
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1936teat
Earliest quotation: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “Milk formed their chief diet, and this they were…”
The story
It heavily displaced Old English titt, a cognate of the same origin, which survives as tit, but in more vulgar use.
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *tittaz
Today it means
noun The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female therian mammals, milk is secreted.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *tittaz / teat