Etymograph

English

wallow

Wallow comes from Old English wealwian ‘to roll’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *welH-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to turn, wind, roll’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*welw-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walwijaną‘to roll’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*walwōnreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wealwian‘to roll’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500walowen
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602wallow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to turn, wind, roll’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*welw-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walwijaną‘to roll’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*walwōnreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wealwian‘to roll’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500walowen
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602wallow

Earliest quotation: c. 1602, William Shakespeare: “O be thou my Charon, / And giue me…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn, wind, roll’

well, volume, revolution, walk, evolution, involve, vault, valve, evolve, revolt, vulgar, helix, convoluted, divulge, waltz, voluminous, vagrant, vulva, gauche, convolution, vulgate, iliac, ilium, wale, involution, voluble, valvular, valise, 76 more

Another origin of wallow

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*falwaz‘pale, gray, fallow’uncertain
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fealu‘yellow, sallow’uncertain
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150fealwianas fealewian‘to turn yellow, ripen, wither’uncertain
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150wealwian‘to fade, wither’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500walwen‘to wallow’
  7. Englishtodaywallow

Another origin of wallow

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walgazreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*walgreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150wealg‘Meaning unclear, potentially "nauseous"’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500walwe
  5. Englishtodaywallow

Today it means

verb To roll oneself about in something dirty, for example in mud.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *welH- / wallow

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