English
walk
Walk comes from Middle English walken, from Old English wealcan ‘to move around, roll’, from Proto-Germanic *walkaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welH-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to roll’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walkaną‘to roll, toss, turn; to walk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*walkanreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wealcan‘to move around, roll’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500walken‘to roll, toss; to walk’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590walk
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to roll’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walkaną‘to roll, toss, turn; to walk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*walkanreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wealcan‘to move around, roll’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500walken‘to roll, toss; to walk’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590walk
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IV: “her toung did walke / In fowle reproch.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to roll, to undulate’
well, volume, revolution, evolution, involve, wall, vault, evolve, valve, revolt, vulgar, helix, convoluted, divulge, voluminous, vagrant, vulva, waltz, gauche, convolution, vulgate, iliac, ilium, involution, voluble, wale, valvular, valise, 76 more
Another origin of walk
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*wealcreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500walc
- Englishtodaywalk
Today it means
verb To move on the feet by alternately setting each foot (or pair or group of feet, in the case of animals with four or more feet) forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Compare run.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *welH- / walk