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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 and fonts spanning the Unicode 3 character set relevant to Indo-European languages. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 2 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 9. au̯(e)-, au̯ed-, au̯er- 'to wet, flow, sprinkle; water, river, etc.'

Semantic Fields: to Flow; Water; Brook, Stream, River

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	u(i)sce	n	water	W7
Scots Gaelic:	uisge	n	water	W7
English
Old English:	otor/ot(e)r	n.masc	otter	W7/ASD
	ūrig-feðera	adj	lit. dewey-feathered	LRC
	wæsce	n.fem	washing place	ASD
	wǣt	adj	wet	W7
	wǣtan	vb.wk	to wet, moisten	W7/ASD
	wæter	n.neut	water	LRC
	wascan/wæscan	vb	to wash	W7/ASD
	wāse	n.fem	ooze, slime; wash: marsh	ASD
	waðum	n.masc	wave, sea	LRC
	winter	n.masc	winter, (cold half of) year	LRC
	winter-cearig	adj	sorrowful, lit. winter-caring	LRC
	Winter-fylleþ	prop.n	October, lit. winter-fills (month)	ASD
	ȳð	n.str.fem	wave	LRC
Middle English:	aboundant	adj	abundant	AHD
	abounden	vb	to abound	W7
	diuretic	adj	diuretic	W7
	oter	n	otter	W7
	redounden	vb	to redound	W7
	surrounden	vb	to overflow	W7
	urine	n	urine	W7
	washen	vb	to wash	W7
	wat/we(e)t	adj	wet	CDC
	water/watre/wæter/weter	n	water	CDC
	weten	vb	to wet	W7
	winter/wynter	n	winter, (cold half of) year	CDC
	Ydra	prop.n	Hydra	W7
English:	abound	vb.intrans	to be present in great quantity/large numbers	AHD/W7
	abundant	adj	plentiful, abounding with	AHD
	anhydrous	adj	free from water, esp. water of crystallization	AHD/W7
	Bywater	prop.n	Shire village in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	clepsydra	n	water clock	AHD/W7
	diuretic	adj	tending to increase flow of urine	AHD/W7
	Entwash	prop.n	Rohan river in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	enuresis	n	incontinence/involuntary discharge of urine	AHD/W7
	hydathode	n	plant epidermal structure for water exudation	AHD/W7
	hydatid	n	kind of larval tapeworm	AHD/W7
	Hydra	prop.n	many-headed water-serpent slain by Hercules	AHD/W7
	hydrant	n	faucet, fireplug, water pipe with valve	AHD/W7
	hydraulic	adj	re: water/liquid	AHD/W7
	hydrilla	n	(type of) submersed Old World plant	AHD
	hydr(o)-	pfx	water, liquid	W7
	hydrophobia	n	morbid fear of water	W7
	hydrous	adj	re: water	AHD
	Hydrus	prop.n	Water Snake (constellation)	AHD
	inundate	vb.trans	to overflow, cover with flood	AHD/W7
	kirschwasser	n	colorless cherry brandy	AHD
	Loudwater	prop.n	a.k.a. Bruinen River in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Midgewater	prop.n	marshes in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	natriuresis	n	excretion of excessive sodium in urine	AHD
	nutria	n	coypu: South American aquatic rodent	AHD/W7
	otter	n	aquatic fish-eating mammal related to minks/weasels	AHD/W7
	redound	vb.intrans	to overflow, become swollen	AHD/W7
	redundant	adj	superfluous, exceeding what is necessary/normal	AHD/W7
	surround	vb.trans	to encompass, enclose on all sides	AHD/W7
	undine	n	water nymph	AHD/W7
	undulate	adj	having wavy surface/margin/markings	AHD/W7
	undulate	vb	to fluctuate, form/move in waves	AHD/W7
	ureter	n	duct carrying urine from kidney to bladder/cloaca	AHD/W7
	urethra	n	canal carrying urine from bladder	AHD/W7
	uretic	adj	urinary, re: urine	AHD
	-uria	n.sfx	presence of (specified substance) in urine	AHD/W7
	urine	n	chief fluid excretory product of vertebrates	AHD/W7
	usquebaugh	n	whiskey	AHD
	utricle	n	small pouches/saccate parts of animal/plant body	AHD/W7
	vodka	n	unaged, colorless neutral spirit distilled liquor	AHD/W7
	wash	n	act of washing; bog, marsh, ground washed by sea/river	W7
	wash	vb	to lave, cleanse via water/liquid	AHD/W7
	water	n	liquid that falls from clouds as rain	AHD/W7
	wet, wet	vb	to make wet, cover/soak with water	AHD/W7
	wet	adj	moist; containing, consisting of, or covered/soaked with liquid (water)	AHD/W7
	Wetwang	prop.n	marshes a.k.a. Nindalf in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	whiskey	n	alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented grain	AHD
	winter	n	wet cold season between autumn/spring	AHD/W7
	Winterfilth	prop.n	Shire calendar's October in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Wintring	prop.n	Bree calendar's October in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	wēt/weit	adj	wet, damp, moist	ASD/CDC
	weter	n.neut	water	CDC/ASD
	winter	n.masc	year, winter	GED
Dutch:	water	n	water	CDC
	winter	n	year, winter	CDC
Old Saxon:	ūðia	n.fem	wave	ASD
	watar	n.neut	water	CDC/ASD
	wintar	n.masc	year, winter	GED
Old Low German:	wascan	vb	to wash	ASD
Middle Low German:	water	n	water	CDC
Low German:	winter	n	year, winter	CDC
Old High German:	ottar/oter	n	otter	W7/ASD
	unda	n.fem	wave	ASD
	waskan/wascan	vb	to wash	W7/ASD
	wazzar	n.neut	water	W7/ASD
	wintar	n.masc	year, winter	GED
Middle High German:	wazzer	n	water	CDC
	winter	n	year, winter	CDC
German:	Hydra	n.fem	Hydra	LRC
	hydraulisch	adj	hydraulic	LRC
	Hydro-	n.pfx	hydro-	LRC
	Otter	n.masc	otter	LRC
	Urin	n.masc	urine	LRC
	Wasser	n.neut	water	CDC
	Winter	n.masc	winter	LRC
N-Germanic
Runic:	uintura	n.acc.pl	years, winters	GED
Old Norse:	uðr	n.fem	wave	LRC
	vatn	n.neut	water; lake, river, waterway	LRC
	vātr	adj	wet	W7
	vetr	n.masc	year, winter	LRC
Old Icelandic:	vet(t)r/vittr	n.masc	year, winter	GED/CDC
Icelandic:	otr	n	otter	ASD
	unnr/uðr	n.fem	wave	ASD
	vaska	vb	to wash	ASD
	vatn	n	water	CDC
	vātr	adj	wet, damp, moist	CDC/ASD
	vetr	n.masc	winter	ASD
	væta	vb	to wet	ASD
Danish:	vaad	adj	wet	CDC
	vand	n	water	CDC
	vinter	n	year, winter	CDC
Swedish:	vatten	n	water	CDC
	vinter	n	year, winter	CDC
	våt	adj	wet	CDC
E-Germanic
Gothic:	wato	n	water	LRC
	wintrus	n.masc	year, winter	GED
Italic
Umbrian:	utur	n	water	LRC
Latin:	abundo, abundāre	vb	to overflow	W7
	Aventinus, Aventini	prop.n.masc	Aventine (Hill, in Rome)	LRC
	clepsydra	n.fem	clepsydra	W7
	Hydra	prop.n.fem	Hydra	W7
	inundo, inundare, inundatus	vb	to flood	W7
	lutra	n.fem	otter	W7
	redundo, redundare	vb	to overflow	W7
	unda	n.fem	wave, water	GED
	undo, undare	vb	to wave, surge, undulate	LRC
	undula	n.fem	little wave	W7
	undulatus	adj	wavy	W7
	urina	n.fem	urine	W7
	utriculus	n.masc	utricle	W7
Late Latin:	diureticus	adj	that provokes urination	W7
	superrundo, superundāre	vb	to overflow	W7
	undula	n.fem	small wave	W7
	urethra	n.fem	urethra	W7
New Latin:	enuresis	n.fem	involuntary discharge of urine	W7
	Hydra	n.fem	(genus name)	W7
	undina	n.fem	elemental being in theory of Paracelsus inhabiting water	W7
	ureter	n.masc	duct from kidney to bladder	W7
	-uria	sfx	urination	W7
Spanish:	nutria	n.fem	otter	W7
Old French:	abondant	adj	abundant	AHD
Middle French:	abonder	vb	to abound	W7
	diurétique	adj	that provokes urination	W7
	redonder	vb	to overflow	W7
	suronder	vb	to overflow	W7
	urine	n.fem	urine	W7
Baltic
Old Prussian:	unds	n.masc	water	GED
	wundan	n.neut	water	GED
Lithuanian:	vanduõ	n.fem	water	GED
Latvian:	ūdens	n.masc	water	LRC
Slavic
Old Church Slavonic:	voda	n.fem	water	LRC
Russian:	voda	n	water	W7
Albanian
Albanian:	ujë	n	water	LRC
Hellenic
Homeric Greek:	ὕδρος	n.masc	water-snake	AHD/LS
Greek:	anydros	adj	dry	W7
	diourein	vb	to urinate	W7
	diourētikos	adj	that provokes urination	W7
	enourein	vb	to urinate in, wet the bed	W7
	θησαυρός	n.masc	treasure	LRC
	klepsydra	n.fem	clepsydra	W7
	ourein	vb	to urinate	W7
	ourēthra	n.fem	urethra	W7
	ourētēr	n.masc	ureter	W7
	-ouria	afx	of urination	W7
	ouron	n.neut	urine	W7
	ὑδατ-/ὑδρ-	pfx	water	CDC
	hydatis, hydatid-	n.fem	watery cyst	W7
	ὕδρα	prop.n.fem	Hydra	LRC
	ὕδωρ	n.neut	water	LRC
Anatolian
Hittite:	wātar, wedenas	n.neut	water	LRC
Armenian
Armenian:	get	n	water, river	LRC
Iranian
Avestan:	vaiδi	n	watercourse	LRC
Indic
Sanskrit:	udan	n	water	CDC
	udnás	n	water	LRC
	unátti	vb	to flow, wet	GED

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

Abbrev.		Meaning
acc	=	accusative (case)
adj	=	adjective
afx	=	affix
fem	=	feminine (gender)
intrans	=	intransitive
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
pfx	=	prefix
pl	=	plural (number)
prop	=	proper
sfx	=	suffix
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)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
GED	=	Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS	=	Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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