MarcusBennevall/EtymologyTaggerDataset huggingface dataset:
football
From Middle English fotbal, footbal, equivalent to foot + ball, because the ball was primarily manipulated with the feet in early versions of the game (though some modern varieties involve more handling than kicking). The name for the briefcase is a play on “dropkick”, the code name of an early version of the nuclear war plan.
yours
From Middle English youres, ȝoures, attested since the 1300s. Equivalent to your + -s (compare -'s); formed by analogy to his. Displaced yourn in standard speech.
your
From Middle English your, youre, ȝour, ȝoure, from Old English ēower, īower (“your”, plural), from Proto-West Germanic *iuwar, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian jou (“your”), Dutch jouw (“your”), German Low German jo, jos (“your”), German euer (“your”, plural), Danish jeres (“your”).
young
Inherited from Middle English yong, yonge, from Old English ġeong, from Proto-West Germanic *jung, from Proto-Germanic *jungaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuHn̥ḱós, from *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”).
Cognates
Cognate with Alemannic German jung, jungu, junhs, jungà, jòng (“young”), Bavarian junk (“young”), Central Franconian, Luxembourgish jonk (“young”), Cimbrian djung, jung, junk (“young”), Dutch jong (“young”), German, German Low German, Mòcheno and Vilamovian jung (“young”), Limburgish jong, jonk (“young”), Yiddish יונג (yung, “young”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish ung (“young”), Faroese, Icelandic ungur (“young”), Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍃 (juggs, “young”).
* As an English, Scottish, and northern Irish surname, from the adjective young, used to distinguish a younger brother or son. This sense is comparable to the surnames le Yunge, German Jong and Junk, Dutch Jong and de Jongh, French Lejeune and LaJeunesse, assimilated from Dion and Guyon.
* As a Chinese surname, from the following:
** Cantonese 楊 /杨 (joeng⁴). Doublet of Yeung.
** Hokkien 楊 /杨 (iông / iâng). Doublet of Yu, Yeo, Yeoh.
** Mandarin 楊 /杨 (yáng). Doublet of Yang.
you
From Middle English you, yow, ȝow (object case of ye), from Old English ēow (“you”, dative case of ġē), from Proto-West Germanic *iwwi (“you”, dative case of *jiʀ), from Proto-Germanic *iwwiz (“you”, dative case of *jīz), the Western form of Proto-Germanic *izwiz (“you”, dative case of *jūz), from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs (“you”, plural).
Cognate with Scots you (“you”), Saterland Frisian jou (“you”), West Frisian jo (“you”), Low German jo, joe and oe (“you”), Dutch jou and u (“you”), German euch (“you”), Middle High German eu, iu (“you”, object pronoun), Latin vōs (“you”), Avestan 𐬬𐬋 (vō, “you”), Ashkun yë̃ (“you”), Kamkata-viri šo (“you”), Sanskrit यूयम् (yūyám, “you”).
See usage notes. Ye, you and your are cognate with Dutch jij/je, jou, jouw; Low German ji, jo/ju, jug and German ihr, euch and euer respectively. Ye is also cognate with Danish I and archaic Swedish I.
From irregular, Wade–Giles, and Hanyu Pinyin romanizations of the Mandarin pronunciations of various Chinese characters, including 余, 于, 由 (yóu), 魚 /鱼 (yú) / 鱼 (yú), 漁 /渔 (yú), 渔 (yú), 楀 (yǔ), 俞, 喻, 兪, 於 /于, 遇 (yù), 虞 (yú), 郁 (yù), 尉, 禹 (yǔ), 游 (yóu), 尤 (yóu), 庾 (yǔ), 娛 /娱, 娱, 茹, 幽 (Yōu).
yet
Inherited from Middle English yet, yit, from Old English ġīet, gȳta, from Proto-West Germanic *jūta, from Proto-Germanic *juta (compare West Frisian jit, jitte (“yet”), Dutch ooit (“ever”), German jetzt (“now”)), compound of (1) *ju (“already”, adverb), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew-, accusative of *h₂óyu (“long time”) and (2) the Proto-Germanic *ta (“to, towards”), from Proto-Indo-European *do. More at aye and -th.
Inherited from Middle English yeten, from Old English ġēotan (“to flow, pour”), from Proto-West Germanic *geutan, from Proto-Germanic *geutaną (“to flow, pour”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”). Cognate with Scots yat (“to pour, yet”), West Frisian jitte (“to scatter, shed, pour”), Dutch gieten (“to pour, cast, mould”), German gießen (“to pour, cast, mould”), Swedish gjuta (“to pour, cast”). Doublet of yote.
Inherited from Middle English yeten, ȝeten, from Old English ġietan, from Proto-Germanic *getaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed-. More at get.
wrought
The past participle of Middle English werken (“to work”), from Old English wyrċan (past tense worhte, past participle (ġe)worht; cf. also the metathetic variant (ġe)wroht), from Proto-West Germanic *wurkijan, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Doublet of worked.
Cognate with wright (as in wheelwright etc.), Dutch gewrocht, archaic past participle of werken (archaic past tense wrocht), Low German wracht, archaic past participle of warken (archaic past tense wrach, archaic past participle wracht).
wrong
From Middle English wrong, from Old English wrang (“wrong, twisted, uneven”), from Old Norse rangr, vrangr (“crooked, wrong”), from Proto-Germanic *wrangaz (“crooked, twisted, turned awry”), from Proto-Indo-European *werḱ-, *wrengʰ- (“to twist, weave, tie together”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Scots wrang (“wrong”), Danish vrang (“wrong, crooked”), Swedish vrång (“perverse, distorted”), Icelandic rangur (“wrong”), Norwegian Nynorsk rang (“wrong”), Dutch wrang (“bitter, sour”) and the first element in the mythic Old Frisian city of Rungholt (“crooked wood”). More at wring.
heinous
From Middle English hainous, from Old French haïneus (compare French haineux) from haïr (“to hate”), hadir (“to hate”) (compare Old French en-hadir (“to become filled with hate”)), from Frankish *hattjan (“to hate”) (compare Middle English hetien). More at hate.
The fluctuation between pronunciations with /eɪ/ and /iː/ is old; the former reflects adoption of an unmonophthongised pronunciation of Old French -ai-, while the latter reflects a monophthongised form.
writer
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *wer-
Proto-Indo-European *wreyd-der.?
Proto-Germanic *wrītaną
Proto-West Germanic *wrītan
Old English wrītan
Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.
Proto-Italic *-āsjos
Latin -āriusnom.
Latin -āriusbor.
Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz
Proto-West Germanic *-ārī
Old English -ere
Old English wrītere
Middle English writer
English writer
From Middle English writer, writere, from Old English wrītere (“draughtsman; painter; writer; scribe; copyist”) and ġewritere (“writer; composer”), equivalent to write + -er and writ + -er. Cognate with Icelandic ritari (“clerk, secretary”), Faroese ritari (“clerk, secretary”).
write
From Middle English writen, from Old English wrītan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrītan, from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną (“to carve, write”), from Proto-Indo-European *wrey- (“to rip, tear”).
Cognate with West Frisian write (“to wear by rubbing, rip, tear”), Dutch wrijten (“to argue, quarrel”), Middle Low German wrîten (“to scratch, draw, write”) (> Low German wrieten, rieten (“to tear, split”)), German reißen (“to tear, rip”), Norwegian rita (“to rough-sketch, carve, write”), Swedish rita (“to draw, design, delineate, model”), Icelandic rita (“to cut, scratch, write”), German ritzen (“to carve, scratch”), Proto-Slavic *ryti (“to carve, engrave, dig”), Polish ryć (“to engrave, dig”), Czech rýt (“to engrave, dig”). See also rit and rat.
wring
From Middle English wringen, wryngen from Old English wringan (“to wring”), from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze, twist, wring”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wrenǵʰ-.
Cognates
* Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “fast”)
* Dutch wringen
* Lithuanian reñgtis (“to bend down”)
* Middle Low German wringen (Low German wringen)
* Old Frisian *wringa (West Frisian wringe)
* Old High German rinkan, ringan, ringan (Middle High German ringen, modern German wringen, German ringen (“to wrestle”))
Partly:
* from Middle English wring, wringe (“twisting or wringing (of the neck)”), from Middle English wringen, wryngen (verb); and
* from the modern English verb.
See further at etymology 1.
From Middle English wring, wringe, wrynge (“a press, especially for olives or wine”) [and other forms], from Old English wringe, from wringan (verb): see further at etymology 1.
weave
From Middle English weven (“to weave”), from Old English wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban, from Proto-Germanic *webaną, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to weave, braid”).
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian weev, weew, weewe (“to weave”), Saterland Frisian weeuwe (“to weave”), Dutch weven (“to weave”), German weben (“to weave”), Luxembourgish wiewen (“to weave”), Yiddish וועבן (vebn, “to weave”), Danish væve (“to weave”), Faroese veva (“to weave”), Icelandic vefa (“to weave”), Norwegian Bokmål veve (“to weave”), Norwegian Nynorsk veva, veve (“to weave”), Swedish väva (“to weave”).
From Middle English weven (“to wander”); probably from Old Norse veifa (“move around, wave”), related to Latin vibrare.
wound
Noun from Middle English wund, from Old English wund, from Proto-Germanic *wundō. Verb from Middle English wunden, from Old English wundian, from Proto-Germanic *wundōną.
would
From Old English wolde, past tense of willan, predecessor of will.
The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in should and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
worst
From Middle English worste, wurste, warste, werste, wirste, from Old English wierrest, from Proto-Germanic *wirsistaz, superlative form of *ubilaz (“bad, evil”); compare worse.
Cognate with Old Saxon wirsista, wirrista (“worst”), Old High German wirst, wirsesto, wirsisto (“worst”), Danish værst (“worst”), Swedish värst (“worst”), Icelandic verstur (“worst”).
Borrowed from German Worst, a variant of Wurst (“sausage”).
edible
From Late Latin edibilis, from Latin edō (“eat”). Doublet of eatable.
throne
From Middle English trone, from Old French trone, from Latin thronus, from Ancient Greek θρόνος (thrónos, “chair, throne”). Superseded earlier seld (“seat, throne”).
woman
From Middle English womman, from earlier wimman, wifman, from Old English wīfmann (“woman”, literally “female person”), a compound of wīf (“woman, female”, whence English wife) + mann (“person, human being”, whence English man). For details on the pronunciation and spelling history, see the usage notes below.
Cognate with Scots woman, weman (“woman”), Saterland Frisian Wieuwmoanske (“female person, female human, woman”). Similar constructions can be found in West Frisian frommes (“woman, girl”) (from frou and minske, literally "woman human").
Further information on vocalic development
The current pronunciation of the first vowel of the singular began to appear in western England in the 13th century under the rounding influence of the w, though the older pronunciation with /i/ (→ modern /ɪ/) remained in use into the 15th century. Although the vowel of the plural was sometimes also altered to /u/ (→ modern /ʊ/) beginning in the 14th century, the pronunciation with /ɪ/ ultimately won out there, possibly under the influence of pairs like foot–feet. However, some speakers (especially of New Zealand English or South African English) have either retained or reinnovated the pronunciation of the plural with /ʊ/. The modern spelling women for the plural is due to influence of the singular; it is attested from the 15th century.
For a time in the 16th and 17th centuries, the pronunciation of the singular sometimes drifted even further back towards /uː/ or /ɔː~oː/ (→ modern /oʊ~əʊ/) and the plural sometimes drifted even further forward towards /iː/, leading to comparisons of the words to "woe man" or "we men".)
women
From Middle English wimmen, from Old English wīfmenn (“women”), from wīf (“female”) + menn (“men, persons, human beings”), equivalent to wife + men. Spelling (with o) influenced by the singular; see woman for more.
laugh
From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną.
Cognates
Germanic: Scots lauch (“to laugh”), Yola leeigh, leigh (“to laugh”), North Frisian laache, lachi, laake, loache, lååke (“to laugh”), Saterland Frisian laachje (“to laugh”), West Frisian laitsje (“to laugh”), Alemannic German lache (“to laugh”), Cimbrian lachan (“to laugh”), Dutch, German, and Low German lachen (“to laugh”), Luxembourgish laachen (“to laugh”), Yiddish לאַכן (lakhn, “to laugh”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish le (“to laugh”), Elfdalian läa (“to laugh”), Faroese læa (“to laugh”), Icelandic hlæja (“to laugh”), Norwegian Nynorsk le, læ, læja (“to laugh”), Crimean Gothic lachen (“to laugh”), Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hlahjan, “to laugh”).
Indo-European: Breton kloc'h (“bell”), Irish clog (“bell; clock”), Manx and Scottish Gaelic clag (“bell”), Welsh cloch (“bell”), Russian клекота́ть (klekotátʹ), клокота́ть (klokotátʹ), клохта́ть (kloxtátʹ, “to cluck, cackle”).
twig
PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English twig, twyg, twigge, twygge, from Old English twigg, twicg, from Proto-West Germanic *twiggu (“small twig, shoot”), apparently a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *twig (“branch, twig”) (whence also Old English twiġ and twiġa), from Proto-Germanic *twīgą, from Proto-Indo-European *dweygʰom, from *dwóh₁. More at two.
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian twiich, twiig (“twig”), Saterland Frisian Twiech (“branch, twig”), West Frisian twiich (“twig”), Dutch twijg (“twig”), German Zweig (“branch, twig; section”), German Low German Twieg (“branch, twig”), Luxembourgish Zwäig (“twig”), Yiddish צווײַג (tsvayg, “branch”); also Old Church Slavonic двигъ (dvigŭ, “branch”), Albanian degë (“branch”).
From Irish and Scottish Gaelic tuig (“to understand”).
kindle
From Middle English kyndelen, from Old Norse kynda (“to inflame”), from Proto-Germanic *kundijaną.
From Middle English kyndel, from kynde + -el. The verb is derived from the noun form by conversion.
king
From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (“king”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (“king”), equivalent to kin + -ing. Doublet of cyning and knez.
Cognate with Scots king, keeng (“king”), North Frisian kining, köning (“king”), Saterland Frisian Kening (“king”), West Frisian kening (“king”), Dutch koning (“king”), Low German Koning, Köning (“king”), German König (“king”), Danish konge (“king”), Swedish konung, kung (“king”), Norwegian konge (“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (“king”), Polish ksiądz (“priest”), Russian князь (knjazʹ, “prince”), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь (kŭnędzĭ), Romanian chinez, Finnish kuningas (“king”), Estonian kuningas, Ingrian kunigas, Veps kunigaz and Võro kuning. Eclipsed non-native Middle English roy (“king”) (Early Modern English roy), borrowed from Old French roi, rei, rai (“king”).
The verb is inherited from Middle English kingen, kyngen (“to perform the duties of a king”), itself from the noun.
queen
From Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn (“queen”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (“wife, woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s (“woman”).
Cognate with Scots queen, wheen (“queen”), Old Saxon quān ("wife"; > Middle Low German quene (“elderly woman”)), Dutch kween (“woman past child-bearing age”), Swedish kvinna (“woman”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk kvinne (“woman”), Danish kvinde (“woman”), Icelandic kvon (“wife”), Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns, “wife”), Norwegian dialectal kvån (“wife”). Related to and possibly merged with and/or absorbed some senses of English quean, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene (“woman; female serf, quean”), see quean. Generally eclipsed non-native Middle English regina (“queen”), borrowed from Latin rēgīna (“queen”) (see Modern English Regina). Doublet of quean and gyne.
In reference to insects, by analogy with the obsolete term king, which it took over from starting in the 1600s, when they were discovered to be female.
sausage
From late Middle English sawsiche, from Anglo-Norman sausiche (compare Norman saûciche), from Late Latin salsīcia (compare Sicilian sausizza, Spanish salchicha, Italian salsiccia), feminine of salsīcius (“seasoned with salt”), derivative of Latin salsus (“salted”), from sal (“salt”). More at salt. Doublet of saucisse. See also Sicilian sausizza. Displaced native Old English mearh.
dollar
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *dalą
Proto-West Germanic *dal
Old High German tal
Middle High German tal
German Tal
German Talerder.
Middle Low German dālerbor.
Dutch dalerbor.
English dollar
Attested since the mid-16th century, from early Dutch daler, daalder, from German Taler, Thaler (“dollar”), earlier Joachimsthaler, literally “of Joachimstal”, the town where the original dollars were minted. The name means “(Saint) Joachim's valley”, from Joachim + Tal. Possibly reinforced by the Dutch leeuwendaalder, which was also used in the American colonies. Doublet of taler /thaler and tolar.
From Scottish Gaelic Dolair (in Scotland).
colloquial
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Proto-Italic *kom-
Latin con-
Latin loquor
Latin colloquor
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Italic *-ios
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin colloquiumder.
Middle English colloquies
English colloquy
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?
Proto-Italic *-ālis
Latin -ālisbor.
Old French -albor.
▲
Latin -ālis
Old French -elbor.
▲
Latin -ālisbor.
Middle English -al
English -al
English colloquial
1751, from earlier term colloquy (“a conversation”), from Latin colloquium (“conference, conversation”), from con- (“together”) + loquor (“to speak”), + -al.
cast
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *kas-
Proto-Germanic *kastōną
Old Norse kastabor.
Middle English casten
English cast
From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin.
Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp.
The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.
* As a German surname, Americanized from Kast.
* As an English surname, variant of Cass.
* As a French surname, from Cast, Finistère in Brittany, ultimately from Latin castra (“fortification”). Sometimes also a variant of Caste, from Old French chaste (“chaste”).
see
From Middle English seen, from Old English sēon (“to see, look, behold, perceive, observe, discern, understand, know”), from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots see, sei (“to see”), Yola sau, ze, zee, zey, zie (“to see”), North Frisian se, si, siin, siine, siinj, sä, säie (“to see”), Saterland Frisian sjo (“to see”), West Frisian sjen (“to see”), Bavarian segn (“to see”), Central Franconian sehn, senn (“to see”), Dutch zien (“to see”), Low German sehn (“to see; to look”), German sehen, sehn (“to see”), Limburgish séëne, zeen (“to see”), Luxembourgish gesinn (“to see”), Alemannic German gseh (“to see”), Mòcheno sechen (“to see”), Vilamovian zaon (“to see”), Yiddish זען (zen, “to see”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish se (“to see”), Elfdalian sją̊ (“to see”), Faroese síggja (“to see”), Icelandic sjá (“to see”), Norwegian Nynorsk sjå (“to see”), sia (“to foretell”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan, “to see”), and more distantly with Albanian shof, shoh (“to see”), Latin secūtus, sequūtus (“followed”), Ancient Greek ἕπομαι (hépomai, “to follow, obey”), Persian ا (a), از (az), ز (ze, “from, of”), Luwian 𒁕𒀀𒌋𒄿𒅖 (“eye”), Sanskrit सच् (sac, “to be associated with, familiar with, have to do with”).
From Middle English se, see, from Old French sie (“seat, throne; town, capital; episcopal see”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”), referring to the bishop's throne or chair (compare seat of power) in the cathedral; related to the Latin verb sedēre (“to sit”). Doublet of sedes.
midnight
From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”).
noon
From Middle English noen, none, non, from Old English nōn (“the ninth hour”), from a Germanic borrowing of classical Latin nōna (“ninth hour”) (short for nōna hōra), feminine of nōnus (“ninth”). Cognate with Dutch noen, obsolete German Non, Norwegian non.
dual
PIE word
 *dwóh₁
Borrowed from Latin dualis (“two”), from duo (“two”) + adjective suffix -alis.
age
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey-
Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu
Proto-Italic *aiwom
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ts
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts
Proto-Italic *-tāts
Proto-Italic *aiwotāts
Vulgar Latin aetās
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos
Proto-Italic *-ātos
Vulgar Latin -ātus
Proto-Indo-European *-ikos
Proto-Italic *-ikos
Vulgar Latin -icus
Vulgar Latin -āticus
Vulgar Latin -āticum
Vulgar Latin *aetāticum
Old French eagebor.
Middle English age
English age
From Middle English age, Old French aage, eage, edage, from an assumed Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, derived from Latin aetātem, itself derived from aevum (“lifetime”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vital force”). Compare French âge. Displaced native Old English ieldu.
The verb is from Middle English agen, from the noun. Originally found mostly as a participial adjective, probably an adjective in -ed, derived from the noun, reanalyzed to create a verb; perhaps modeled on such pairs as Latin senēscō (seneō; verb) / senex (adjective) and Middle French vieillir (verb) / vieil (adjective). Also compare Old French se aagier, eogier (“become of age”).
weekday
Inherited from Middle English wykeday, from Old English wicdæġ. By surface analysis, compound of week + day. Compare West Frisian wikedei (“weekday”), Dutch weekdag (“weekday”), German Wochentag (“weekday”), Danish ugedag (“weekday”), Swedish veckodag (“weekday”), Norwegian ukedag (“weekday”).
leap year
PIE word
 *yóh₁r̥
From Late Middle English lepe-yer, lep-yer (“year with 366 days, leap year”), from lep, lepe (“act of jumping, jump, leap”) (from Old English hlīep, hlȳp, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *klewp- (“to spring; to stumble”)) + yer (“calendrical unit based on a complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun, year”) (from Old English ġēar, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year”)). The English term is analysable as leap (noun) + year, and possibly relates to the phenomenon that any fixed date of a 365-day calendar advances one weekday each year but every date of a 366-day year after February 29 (often seen as the leap day) advances by two weekdays instead. For example, Christmas (December 25) fell on a Saturday in 2004, a Sunday in 2005, a Monday in 2006, and a Tuesday in 2007 but then “leapt” over Wednesday to fall on a Thursday in 2008 which was a leap year.
Compare also Old English mōnan hlȳp (“moon’s leap”) and Medieval Latin saltus lūnae (literally “leap moon”), an additional day added every 19 years (a Metonic cycle) to bring the lunar and solar calendars into alignment.
Cognates
* Old Norse hlaup-ár (“leap year”)
been
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Germanic *ga-
Proto-West Germanic *ga-
Old English ġe-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuHyétider.?
Proto-Germanic *beuną
Proto-West Germanic *beun
Old English bēon
Old English ġebēon
Middle English been
English been
From Middle English been (past participle), from Old English (ġe)bēon. By surface analysis, be + -en.
Either from Middle English been (“to be”, infinitive) (from Old English bēon, equivalent to be + -en (infinitive ending)), or from a dialectal use of the preceding past tense form as an infinitive form (compare dialectal use of (I)'s, (I) is in the first person, (he) am in the third person, etc).
From Middle English been (plural indicative form); equivalent to be + -en (plural present ending).
From Middle English been, bene, ben, beon, from Old English bēon (“bees”), equivalent to bee + -en (plural ending).