Etymograph

English

waker

Waker comes from Old English wacor ‘watchful, vigilant’, from Proto-West Germanic *wakr ‘awake’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵ-‘to be strong, be awake, be fresh, be cheerful’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wakaną‘to wake, be awake, arise’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wakraz‘awake, watchful’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wakr‘awake’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wacor‘watchful, vigilant’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wakyr
  7. Englishtodaywaker

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵ-‘to be strong, be awake, be fresh, be cheerful’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wakaną‘to wake, be awake, arise’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wakraz‘awake, watchful’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wakr‘awake’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wacor‘watchful, vigilant’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wakyr
  7. Englishtodaywaker

Formed from wake + -er

The story

Further related through the same Indo-European root to vigil, vigor, and vegetable.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- ‘to be strong, be awake, be fresh, be cheerful’

wait, surveillance, vegetation, vigorous, vigilant, vigil, vigour, awaken, invigorate, reveille, vajra, waken, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *wakaną ‘to wake, be awake, arise’

awake, 1 more

Another origin of waker

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wakere
  2. Englishtodaywaker

Today it means

adj Watchful; vigilant; alert.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- / waker

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