English
wether
Wether comes from Old English weþer ‘a wether, ram’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wet- ‘year’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wet-‘year’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weþruzreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*weþru‘wether, ram’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150weþer‘a wether, ram’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wether
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598wether
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wet-‘year’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weþruzreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*weþru‘wether, ram’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150weþer‘a wether, ram’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wether
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598wether
Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “I am a tainted Weather of the flocke, /…”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wet- ‘year’
veteran, veterinary, veal, veterinarian, viol, bacha, inveterate, 17 more
Today it means
noun A castrated goat.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wet- / wether