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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers with Unicode^® support, but fonts for only the Unicode 2.0 character set (including combining diacritics). Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 1. g̑en-, g̑enə-, g̑nē-, g̑nō- 'to bear, produce, generate'

Semantic Fields: to Bear (of Mother); to Do, Make

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	gainethar	vb.3.sg	is born	GED
	gein	n.neut	birth	GED
Breton:	genel	vb	to bear, give birth	LRC
Welsh:	gen(n)i	vb	to be born, give birth	GED/RPN
English
Old English:	cænnan/cynnan	vb.wk.I	to bear, beget, conceive, bring forth	ASD
	cennan, cennede, cenned	vb.wk.I	to bear, beget, conceive, bring forth	LRC
	cnōsl	n.str.neut	race	GED
	cynd	n	kind, species; origin	RPN
	cyne-rīce/cyne-rȳce	n.neut	kingdom	GED/ASD
	cy(ni)ng	n.masc	king	GED/ASD
	cynn	n.neut	kin(d), race, species; progeny	GED/RPN
	mon(n)-cynn/man(n)-cynn	n.neut	mankind	LRC
Middle English:	alkyn	adj	of all kinds	MEV
	benigne	adj	benign	W7
	degenerat	adj	degenerate	W7
	engendren	vb	to engender	W7
	engin	n	engine	W7
	gendre	n	gender	W7
	gendren	vb	to gender, engender	W7
	general	adj	general	W7
	genital	adj	genital	W7
	genitive	adj	genitive	W7
	gent	adj	gent	W7
	gentil	adj	gentle	W7
	gentile	n	gentile	W7
	gentrise, gentrie	n	gentry	W7
	germain	adj	having the same parents	W7
	innat	adj	innate	W7
	kin	n	kin(dred)	W7
	kinde	n	kind	W7
	kindred	n	kindred	W7
	king	n	king	W7
	maligne	adj	malign	W7
	malignen	vb	to malign	W7
	mankunde/mankyn(de)	n	mankind	MEV
	nacioun	n	nation	W7
	natal	adj	natal	W7
	natif	adj	native	W7
	nature	n	nature	W7
	pregnant	adj	pregnant	W7
	progenie	n	progeny	W7
	progenitor	n	progenitor	W7
English:	adnate	adj	grown fast to something different	AHD/W7
	agnate	adj/n	related/relative on father's side	AHD/W7
	allogeneic	adj	re: genetic dissimilarity	AHD
	archegonium	n	flask-shaped egg-producing sex organ	AHD/W7
	benign	adj	gracious, of gentle disposition	AHD/W7
	cognate	adj	related by blood	AHD/W7
	congener	n	member of same genus as another plant/animal	AHD/W7
	congenial	adj	kindred, having same tastes/nature/disposition	AHD/W7
	congenital	adj	existing at/dating from birth	AHD/W7
	connate	adj	inborn, innate	AHD/W7
	degenerate	adj	departed from proper quality	AHD/W7
	dysgenic	adj	yielding offspring inferior to parent	TLL
	enate	n	maternal female relative	AHD
	endogenous	adj	grown from within	TLL
	engender	vb	to beget, procreate	AHD/W7
	engine	n	wile, ingenuity; agent; device	AHD/W7
	epigone	n	imitative follower	AHD/W7
	erogenous	adj	sexually sensitive	AHD/W7
	eugenic	adj	yielding offspring superior to parent	TLL
	eugenics	n	ethics/genetics re: producing superior offspring	TLL
	-gen	n.sfx	producer	AHD/W7
	gender	n	sex	AHD/W7
	gender	vb	to engender	AHD/W7
	gene	n	part of germ plasm transmitting hereditary characters	AHD/W7
	general	adj	involving/applicable to whole	AHD/W7
	generate	vb.trans	to bring into existence	AHD/W7
	generation	n	offspring at same stage of descent	AHD
	generic	adj	general, re: whole group/class	AHD/W7
	generous	adj	highborn	AHD/W7
	genesis	n	birth/origin/coming into being	AHD/W7
	genial	adj	re: marriage/generation	AHD/W7
	-genic	adj.sfx	that generates	AHD/W7
	genital	adj	generative	AHD/W7
	genitive	adj	(grammatical case) re: relationship of possessor/source	AHD/W7
	genitor	n	one who creates/produces	AHD
	geniture	n	birth, nativity	AHD/W7
	genius	n	attendant spirit of person/place	AHD/W7
	genocide	n	destruction of racial/cultural/political group	AHD/W7
	genotype	n	type species, genetic constitution	AHD/W7
	-genous	adj.sfx	that generates	AHD/W7
	genre	n	sort, kind	AHD/W7
	gens	n	Roman clan embracing families of same male stock	AHD/W7
	gent	adj	pretty, graceful	AHD/W7
	genteel	adj	stylish, having aristocratic quality	AHD/W7
	gentile	adj	re: non-Jewish peoples	AHD/W7
	gentile	n	person of non-Jewish faith/stock	AHD/W7
	gentle	adj	re: family with high social status	AHD/W7
	gentlehobbit	n	noble/gentle hobbit in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	gentleman	n	man of noble/gentle birth	W7
	gentry	n.obs	qualities appropriate to person of gentle birth	AHD/W7
	genuine	adj	true, actually having reputed/apparent character/qualities	AHD/W7
	genus	n	class/group/kind characterized by common attribute(s)	AHD/W7
	-geny	n.sfx	production, generation	AHD/W7
	germ	n	part of living substance able to develop into whole	AHD/W7
	german	adj	having same parents/grandparents on maternal/paternal side	AHD/W7
	germane	adj	closely akin	AHD/W7
	germinal	adj	re: earliest development stage	AHD/W7
	germinate	vb	to cause to sprout/develop	AHD/W7
	gingerly	adj/adv	careful/cautious; with care/delicacy	AHD/W7
	gonad	n	testis, ovary, primary sex gland	AHD/W7
	-gony	n.sfx	generation, reproduction, manner of birth	AHD/W7
	heterogeneous	adj	mixed, consisting of dissimilar parts	AHD/W7
	hormogonium	n	portion of cyanobacterium filament	AHD
	impregnate	vb.trans	to make pregnant	AHD/W7
	indigenous	adj	produced/growing/living naturally in region/environment	AHD/W7
	indigent	adj	needy, impoverished	AHD/W7
	ingenious	adj	showing/calling for intelligence	AHD/W7
	ingenuous	adj	noble, honorable	AHD/W7
	innate	adj	native, existing in/belonging to individual from birth	AHD/W7
	jaunty	adj	genteel	AHD/W7
	kin	n	clan, person(s) of common ancestry	AHD/W7
	kind	adj	loving, gentle, friendly, affectionate	W7
	kind	n	type, sort, nature	AHD/W7
	kindergarten	n	young children's class/school	AHD/W7
	kindred	n	relative(s), related individual(s)	W7
	king	n	male monarch of major territorial unit	AHD/W7
	kingsfoil	n	healing herb in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	malign	adj	injurious, evil in effect/nature/influence	AHD/W7
	malign	vb.trans	to utter false/evil/misleading reports about	AHD/W7
	mankind	n	human race, all human beings	W7
	miscegenation	n	mixture of races	AHD/W7
	Morgul-king	prop.n	Nazgûl king in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	naive	adj	ingenuous, artless, marked by unaffected simplicity	AHD/W7
	nascent	adj	re: being born/brought forth	AHD/W7
	natal	adj	native, re: birth	AHD/W7
	nation	n	nationality	AHD/W7
	native	adj	innate, inborn	AHD/W7
	nature	n	essence, inherent character/basic constitution	AHD/W7
	nee	adj	re: identifying woman by maiden name	AHD/W7
	neonatal	adj	re: newborn (human) infant	W7
	neonate	n	newborn infant	AHD
	Noel	prop.n	Christmas	AHD
	noel	n	Christmas carol	W7
	oncogenesis	n	tumor formation/development	AHD
	pregnant	adj	gravid, containing unborn young	AHD/W7
	primogenitor	n	ancestor, forefather	AHD/W7
	primogeniture	n	firstborn of children of same parents	AHD/W7
	progenitor	n	forefather, ancestor in direct line	AHD/W7
	progeny	n	children, offspring, descendants	AHD/W7
	puny	adj	weak, slight/inferior in size/power/importance	AHD/W7
	renaissance	n	transition between medieval/modern times in Europe	AHD/W7
	syngeneic	adj	genetically identical, closely related, immunologically compatible	AHD
	wunderkind	n	child prodigy	AHD/W7
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	kanna/kenna	vb	to beget, conceive	ASD
	kening/keneng/kini(n)g/koning	n	king	ASD
	kenn/kinn	n	kin, race, generation	GED
Frisian:	kening	n	king	ASD
	kinnen	vb	to beget, conceive	ASD
Dutch:	kind	n.neut	child	ASD
	koning	n.masc	king	ASD
	natuur	n	nature	TLL
Old Saxon:	cnōsal/knōsal	n.str.neut	race	GED/ASD
	cuni(n)g/kuning	n.masc	king	GED/ASD
	kennian	vb	to beget, conceive	ASD
	kind	n.str.neut	child	LRC
	kunni	n	race, generation	GED
	man-kunni	n	mankind	ASD
Old High German:	chnōt/chnuot	n.str.fem	race	GED
	chnuosal	n.str.neut	race	GED
	chuning/kuning	n.str.masc	king	GED
	chuni-rīche	n	kingdom	GED
	chunni	n.str.neut	kin, kind, race, generation	GED/RPN
	kannjan	vb	to beget, conceive	ASD
	kind/kint	n.str.neut	child	ASD
	knōsli/knuosli	n.neut	kin, race	ASD
	man-chunni	n.neut	mankind	ASD
Middle High German:	kint	n.neut	child	ASD
	künic/kün(e)c	n.masc	king	ASD
German:	Epigone	n.masc	follower, descendant	W7
	Gen	n.neut	gene, factor	W7
	Kind, Kinder	n.neut	child	W7
	Kindergarten	n.masc	kindergarten	W7
	Knösel	n.masc	little man	ASD
	König	n.masc	king	ASD
	Natur	n.fem	nature	TLL
	Wunderkind	n.neut	child prodigy	W7
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	kind	n.fem	child, offspring; race	LRC
Old Icelandic:	konungr	n	king	GED
	kyn	n.fem	kin(d), race, species	GED/RPN
	mann-kyn	n.fem	mankind	ASD
Icelandic:	kind	n.fem	kind, species	ASD
	kōngr/konungr	n.masc	king	ASD
Danish:	kjende	vb	to beget, conceive	ASD
	konge/konning	n.masc	king	ASD
	natur	n	nature	TLL
Swedish:	ko(nu)ng/kung	n.masc	king	ASD
	känna	vb	to beget, conceive	ASD
	natur	n	nature	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	himinakunds	adj	heavenly	LRC
	kindins	n.str.masc	governor	LRC
	*knoþs	n.fem	race, kindred	GED
	kuni	n.neut	kin(d), race, generation	GED/RPN
	niuklahs	adj	young, childish	LRC
Italic
Old Latin:	genunt	vb.3.pl	they beget	GED
Latin:	adgnascor, adgnascī, adgnatus	vb.dep	to grow on	W7
	agnascor, agnascī, agnatus	vb.dep	to be born in addition to	W7
	benignus	adj	kind, benign	W7
	cognatus	adj	cognate, akin to	W7
	congener	n.masc	son-in-law	W7
	congenitus	adj	born with	W7
	degenero, degenerare, degeneravi, degeneratus	vb	to degenerate	W7
	generalis	adj	re: genre	W7
	generō, generāre, generāvī, generātus	vb	to beget, generate	W7
	generosus	adj	noble	W7
	genialis	adj	bridal, of wedding, joyful	W7
	genitalis	adj	of childbearing	W7
	genitivus, genetivus	adj	genitive, of birth	W7
	genitor	n.masc	begetter	W7
	genitura	n.fem	birth, an engendering	W7
	genius	n.masc	personal god	W7
	genō, genāre	vb	to beget, give birth	RPN
	gens, gentis	n.fem	clan, tribe, race, kindred group	LRC
	gentilis	adj	re: same clan/nation	W7
	genuinus	adj	native, genuine	W7
	genus, generis	n.neut	race, birth, genus	GED/RPN
	germanus	adj	germane, having same parents	W7
	germen, germinis	n.neut	bud, germ, seed, shoot	W7
	germinō, germināre, germināvī, germinātus	vb	to sprout	W7
	gīgnō, genere, genuī, genitus	vb	to beget, produce, generate, give birth	GED/RPN
	(g)nātus	adj	born	GED
	-gonia	sfx	having sides	W7
	indigena	n.masc	native (of the country)	GED
	ingenero, ingenerare	vb	to engender	W7
	ingeniosus	adj	talented	W7
	ingenium	n.neut	natural disposition, talent	W7
	ingens, ingentis	adj	great	LRC
	ingenuus	adj	free, natural, noble	W7
	innascor, innasci, innatus	vb	to be born in	W7
	malignus	adj	malicious, mean	W7
	nāscor, nāscī, nātus	vb.dep	to arise, be born/produced	LRC
	natalis	adj	relating to birth, birthday	W7
	nātiō, nātiōnis	n.fem	birth; race, nation	LRC
	nativus	adj	of the birth	W7
	natura	n.fem	nature	W7
	naturalis, naturalis, naturale	adj	natural	LRC
	praegnans, praegnantis	adj	pregnant, impregnated	W7
	praegnas	adj	pregnant, impregnated	W7
	progenies	n.fem	race, family, progeny	LRC
	progenitor	n.masc	parent, ancestor, progenitor	W7
	progigno, progignere, progenui, progenitus	vb	to beget, give birth to	W7
	renascor, renasci	vb.dep	to be born again	W7
	singulus, singula, singulum	adj	single, individual	LRC
Late Latin:	connascor, connasci, connatus	vb.dep	to be born together	W7
	impraegnō, impraegnāre, impraegnāvī, impraegnātus	vb	to make pregant	W7
	indigenus	adj	indigenous	W7
	malignor, malignāri	vb.dep	to act maliciously	W7
	primogenitor	n.masc	origin, first begetter	W7
	primogenitura	n.fem	primogeniture, first begotten children	W7
Medieval Latin:	heterogen(e)us	adj	heterogeneous	W7
New Latin:	archegonium	n.neut	originator	W7
	gonas, gonadis	n.fem	gonad	W7
Old French:	benigne	adj	benign	AHD
	engin	n.masc	engine, machine	W7
	gent	n.fem	gens; kind, clan, family	W7
	gentil	adj	noble, courageous	W7
	naïf	adj	inborn, natural	W7
	progénie	n.fem	ascendance, family, lineage	W7
Middle French:	benigne	adj	benign, good-natured	W7
	engendrer	vb	to engender	W7
	gendre	n.masc	son-in-law	W7
	gendrer	vb	to generate	W7
	general	adj	general, re: kind	W7
	genereus	adj	generous	W7
	genre	n.masc	genre, gender	W7
	germain	adj	kindred	W7
	ingenieux	adj	clever, ingenious	W7
	maligne	adj.fem	mean	W7
	maligner	vb	to act maliciously	W7
	natif	adj	native, re: birth	W7
	nation	n.fem	nation	W7
	nature	n.fem	nature	W7
	né	vb.ptc	born	W7
	progéniteur	n.masc	progenitor	W7
	puisné	adj	younger, born afterward	W7
	renaissance	n.fem	rebirth	W7
	renaistre	vb	to be born again	W7
French:	-gène	adj.sfx	act of bringing forth	W7
	générique	adj	generic	W7
	genre	n.masc	type, genre	W7
	gentil	adj	nice, genteel	W7
	germe	n.masc	germ, sprout	W7
	germinal	adj	germinal, re: germination	W7
	naître	vb	to be born	W7
	naïve, naïf	adj.fem	naive	W7
	né, née	vb.ptc	born	W7
	Noël	prop.n.masc	Noel	LRC
	noël	n.masc	noel	LRC
	renaissance	n.fem	2nd birth, 2nd coming into fashion	W7
Baltic
Lithuanian:	gentìs	n	kinsman	LRC
	žéntas	n	son-in-law	LRC
Latvian:	znuõts	n.masc	son-in-law, brother-in-law	GED
Slavic
Serbo-Croatian:	zȅt	n	son-in-law, sister's husband	LRC
Old Church Slavonic:	zjatь	n.masc	bridegroom, son-in-law	GED
	zętъ	n	son-in-law, sister's husband	LRC
Hellenic
Greek:	archegonos	n.masc	originator	W7
	γενεή	n.fem	race, family, generation	LRC
	-geneia	afx	being born	W7
	γένεσις	n.fem	birth, source, origin, beginning	LRC
	-genēs	afx	birth	W7
	genikos	adj	genitive; re: birth	W7
	γεννάω	vb	to beget, give birth	LRC
	γένος	n.neut	birth, race, stock, kind	GED/RPN
	γίγνομαι	vb.dep	to happen, become; arise, be born	GED/RPN
	γνήσιος	adj	legitimate	GED
	γνωτός	n.fem	brother, kinsman, well-known person	GED
	-gonia	afx	birth	W7
	γόνος	n.masc/fem	child, offspring, descendant	GED
	epigignesthai	vb	to be born after	W7
	epigonos	n.masc	successor	W7
	heterogenēs	adj	heterogeneous	W7
Armenian
Armenian:	cin	n	birth	GED/RPN
	cnanim	vb	to beget, be born	GED/RPN
Iranian
Avestan:	zan-	vb	to bear, beget, be born	RPN
	zana-	n	people	GED/RPN
	zāta	adj	born	GED
	zayeite	vb	to be born	LRC
	zīzənti	vb.3.pl	they bear	GED
Indic
Sanskrit:	jánati	vb	to beget, create	GED/RPN
	janáyati	vb	to bear, beget	GED
	jánas-	n.masc	race, descent, lineage	GED/RPN
	jātás	adj	born	GED
	jñatiṣ	n	relative	GED
	jñātás	adj	born	GED

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
3	=	3rd person
I	=	class 1
adj	=	adjective
adv	=	adverb(ial)
afx	=	affix
dep	=	deponent
fem	=	feminine (gender)
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
obs	=	obsolete
pl	=	plural (number)
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
sfx	=	suffix
sg	=	singular (number)
str	=	strong (inflection)
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb
wk	=	weak (inflection)

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
GED	=	Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
MEV	=	J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
RPN	=	Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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