English
thatch
Thatch comes from Old English þæc ‘roof-covering’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-‘cover’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þaką‘covering’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þak‘roof, cover’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150þæc‘roof-covering’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thache
- Englishearliest quotation 1989thatch
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-‘cover’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þaką‘covering’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þak‘roof, cover’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150þæc‘roof-covering’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thache
- Englishearliest quotation 1989thatch
Earliest quotation: 1989, Octavia E. Butler, Part III, Chapter 7: “Just over halfway up, we reached the Human settlement…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘cover’
detective, detection, detect, tile, sauna, thug, protégé, toga, staccato, toque, 27 more
through Proto-Germanic *þaką ‘covering’
Another origin of thatch
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tog-o-sreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þaką‘cover, covering’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þakjaną‘to cover’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þakkjanreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150þeċċan‘to cover’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thacchen‘to thatch’
- Englishtodaythatch
Today it means
noun Straw, rushes, or similar, used for making or covering the roofs of buildings, or of stacks of hay or grain.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- / thatch