English
well
Well comes from Middle English wel ‘well, amazingly, expertly’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *wela.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*welareconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wel‘well’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘well’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611well
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*welareconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wel‘well’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘well’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611well
Earliest quotation: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “Paulina. As she liu'd peerelesse, So her dead likenesse…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- ‘wish, desire’
will, volunteer, benevolent, malevolent, volition, voluptuous, wale, malevolence, 11 more
through Proto-Germanic *wela
Another origin of well
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to turn’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wallijǭ‘well, swirl, wave’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wallijā‘welling, bubbling, overflowing’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wielle
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500welle‘a well’
- Englishtodaywell
Another origin of well
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wallijanąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wallijan‘to (cause to) well up, well over, boil’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiellan‘to boil’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wellen‘to boil, to bubble’
- Englishtodaywell
Today it means
adv Accurately, competently, satisfactorily.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *wela / well