English
tree
Tree comes from Old English trēo ‘tree’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dóru.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dórureconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*trewąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*treureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150trēo‘tree’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trau
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611tree
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dórureconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*trewąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*treureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150trēo‘tree’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trau
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611tree
Earliest quotation: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Ste[phano]. Trinculo, keepe a good tongue in your head:…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dóru
trough, dory, druid, dinghy, dendritic, larch, dendrite, 5 more
Today it means
noun A perennial woody plant taller and larger than a shrub with a wooden trunk and, at some distance from the ground, having leaves and branches.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dóru / tree