Etymograph

English

wipe

Wipe comes from Middle English wipen ‘to wipe dirt or other substances away from a…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyp- ‘to twist, wind around’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyp-‘to twist, wind around’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wīpōn‘to wipe’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150wīpian‘to wipe, rub, cleanse’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wipen‘to wipe dirt or other substances away from a wound’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1551wipe

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyp-‘to twist, wind around’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wīpōn‘to wipe’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150wīpian‘to wipe, rub, cleanse’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wipen‘to wipe dirt or other substances away from a wound’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1551wipe

Earliest quotation: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “If they by coveyne [covin] or gile be wiped…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyp- ‘to twist, wind around’

vibrant, whip, vibration, weave, waive, vibrator, vibrate, waver, vibrato, waif, 8 more

Today it means

verb To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyp- / wipe

Shirt and support for this word