Etymograph

English

weep

Weep comes from Middle English wepen ‘to weep’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weh₂b- ‘to call, cry, complain’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₂b-‘to call, cry, complain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wōpijaną‘to weep’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wōpijan‘to weep’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wēpan‘to weep, complain, bewail, mourn over, deplore’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wepen‘to weep’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599weep

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₂b-‘to call, cry, complain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wōpijaną‘to weep’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wōpijan‘to weep’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wēpan‘to weep, complain, bewail, mourn over, deplore’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wepen‘to weep’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599weep

Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “The blood weeps from my heart.”

Linked words

through Middle English wepen ‘to weep’

weapon, 2 more

Today it means

verb To cry; to shed tears, especially when accompanied with sobbing or other difficulty speaking, as an expression of emotion such as sadness or joy.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weh₂b- / weep

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