Etymograph

English

thaw

Thaw comes from Old English þāwian ‘to thaw’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- ‘to melt’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂-‘to melt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þawjaną‘to thaw’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þauwjan‘to melt, thaw’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þāwian‘to thaw’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thawen
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1530thaw

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂-‘to melt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þawjaną‘to thaw’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þauwjan‘to melt, thaw’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þāwian‘to thaw’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thawen
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1530thaw

Earliest quotation: 1530, The Table of Verbes: “Sette the potte to the fyre to thawe the…”

The story

The verb is derived from Middle English thawen, thowen (‘to melt (ice, snow, etc.), thaw’), from Old English þāwian, *þāwan (‘to thaw’), from Proto-West Germanic *þauwjan (‘to melt, thaw; to digest; to dissolve’), from Proto-Germanic *þawjaną (‘to thaw’), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (‘to melt; to flow, stream’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- ‘to melt’

tench, 5 more

Today it means

verb To gradually cause (something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow) to melt or soften by raising the temperature.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- / thaw

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