English
timber
Timber comes from Proto-West Germanic *timr ‘building’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dem-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-‘to build’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*timrą‘building’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*timr‘building’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150timber
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tymber
- Englishearliest quotation 1646timber
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-‘to build’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*timrą‘building’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*timr‘building’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150timber
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tymber
- Englishearliest quotation 1646timber
Earliest quotation: 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: “For many heads that undertake [learning], were never squared…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build’
don, domestic, danger, domain, dominate, donna, dominion, domination, domino, damsel, domicile, despot, dominatrix, domus, toft, teem, 22 more
Today it means
noun Trees in a forest regarded as a source of wood.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dem- / timber