Etymograph

English

yearn

Yearn comes from Middle English yernen ‘to express or feel desire’, from Proto-Germanic *gernaz ‘eager, willing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ‘to yearn for’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰer-‘to yearn for’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gernaz‘eager, willing’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*girnijaną‘to desire, want’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*girnijan‘to be eager for, desire’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeornan‘to desire, yearn’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yernen‘to express or feel desire’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597yearn

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰer-‘to yearn for’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gernaz‘eager, willing’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*girnijaną‘to desire, want’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*girnijan‘to be eager for, desire’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeornan‘to desire, yearn’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yernen‘to express or feel desire’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597yearn

Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wiues of Windsor: “Well, ſhe laments Sir for it, that it would…”

The story

The verb is derived from Middle English yernen, yern (‘to express or feel desire; to desire, long or wish for; to lust after; to ask or demand for’) [and other forms], from Old English ġeornan (‘to desire, yearn; to beg’) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan (‘to be eager for, desire’), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną (‘to desire, want’), from *gernaz (‘eager, willing’) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (‘to yearn for’)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ‘to yearn for’

grand, grill, greedy, grit, charismatic, growl, grime, chromatic, grout, grisly, ochre, grist, grimace, yar, exhort, 17 more

Another origin of yearn

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃er-‘to move, stir’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rinnan‘to run’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rennen‘to run’
  4. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500erne‘to coagulate, congeal’
  5. English1500–presentearn‘to curdle, as milk’uncertain
  6. Englishtodayyearn

Today it means

verb To have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- / yearn

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