Etymograph

English

tumble

Tumble comes from Middle English tumblen ‘to fall over and over again, tumble’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *tūmōną ‘to rotate’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tūmōną‘to rotate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tumbōnreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150tumbian‘to tumble’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tumben‘to fall, leap, dance’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500tumblen‘to fall over and over again, tumble’frequentative of tumben
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1692–1717tumble

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tūmōną‘to rotate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tumbōnreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150tumbian‘to tumble’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tumben‘to fall, leap, dance’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500tumblen‘to fall over and over again, tumble’frequentative of tumben
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1692–1717tumble

Earliest quotation: 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions: “He who tumbles from a tower surely has a…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *tūmōną

Today it means

noun A fall, especially end over end.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *tūmōną / tumble

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