English words first recorded in the 8th century

It is inherited from Middle English gras, inherited from Old English græs (also gærs, “herb, plant, grass”), from Proto-Germanic *grasą, also the source of Old Frisian gers, Dutch and German Gras…

It is inherited from Middle English grinden, inherited from Old English grindan (“to rub together, crush into powder”), from Proto-Germanic *grindanan, related to Middle Dutch grinde (“thick sand…

The noun is inherited from Old English gripe (“grasp, clutch”), fused with gripa, a handful, sheaf; the verb is grippan (“to grip, seize”). Both are related to Old English grīpan, to seize (see…

It is inherited from Middle English gret, also grit, inherited from Old English grēot (“sand, dust, earth, gravel”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *greutą (“tiny particles of crushed rock”). Its…

It is inherited from Middle English grund, inherited from Old English grund (“bottom, foundation; surface of the earth”), from Proto-Germanic *grunduz, which seems to have meant “deep place”. Its…

It is inherited from Middle English growen, inherited from Old English grōwan (“to flourish, develop, get bigger (of plants)”), from Proto-Germanic *grō-, from Proto-Indo-European *ghre- (“to grow…

It is inherited from Middle English grunten, also gronten and grounten, inherited from Old English grunnettan, a frequentative of grunian, also grunnian (“to grunt”), from Proto-Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English gest, probably borrowed from Old Norse gestr, replacing the related Old English gæst, giest, Anglian gest, “a chance comer, a stranger”, in which the g was…

It is inherited from Middle English halle, inherited from Old English heall (“a spacious roofed residence; a temple; a law court”), from Proto-Germanic *hallō (“covered place, hall”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English hamer, inherited from Old English hamor (“hammer”), from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz, source also of Dutch hamer, German Hammer and Old Norse hamarr (“hammer; stone…

It is inherited from Middle English hard, inherited from Old English heard (“solid, firm; severe”), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, whose descendants include Old Frisian herd, Old Saxon hard, Dutch…

It is inherited from Middle English harm, inherited from Old English hearm (“hurt, pain; evil, grief; insult”), from Proto-Germanic *harmaz, the source also of Old Norse harmr “grief, sorrow” and…

It is inherited from Middle English harpe, inherited from Old English hearpe, from Proto-Germanic *harpǭ, also the source of Old Saxon harpa, used of an instrument of torture, Middle Dutch harpe…

It is inherited from Middle English hert, inherited from Old English heorot (“hart, stag, male of the red deer”), heort, from Proto-Germanic *herutaz, probably literally a horned beast, source also…

It is inherited from Middle English hat, inherited from Old English hætt (“hat, head covering”), from Proto-Germanic *hattuz (“hood, cowl”), also the source of Frisian hat and Old Norse hǫttr “hood…

It is inherited from Middle English hed, earlier heved and hevod (1123), inherited from Old English hēafod, from Proto-Germanic *haubid. Its cognates are Old Frisian hāved, Old Saxon hōbid, Dutch…

It is Middle English helen, inherited from Old English hǣlan (“to cure, save, make whole”), from Proto-Germanic *hailjan, literally to make whole, from *hailaz, also the source of whole and hale…

It is inherited from Middle English hepe, also heep, inherited from Old English hēap (“pile; great number, crowd”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *haup, inherited from Proto-Germanic *haupaz…

It is inherited from Middle English herte, inherited from Old English heorte, from Proto-Germanic *hertan-, from Proto-Indo-European *kerd- (“heart”). Its relatives include German Herz, Dutch hart…

It is inherited from Middle English herth, also herthe, inherited from Old English heorþ (“hearth, fireplace; house”), from Proto-Germanic *herþaz. Hoad and Barnhart describe it as West Germanic. It…

It is inherited from Middle English hete, inherited from Old English hǣtu (“heat, warmth; fervor, ardor”), hǣto, also hǣte, from Proto-West Germanic *haitīn, from Proto-Germanic *haitaz, the source…

It is inherited from Middle English heven, inherited from Old English heofon (“the sky, firmament; the home of God”), probably from Proto-Germanic *hibin-, a dissimilation of *himin-, also the…

It is inherited from Middle English hevy, inherited from Old English hefiġ (“heavy, weighty; important, grave; oppressive; slow, dull”), from Proto-Germanic *habigaz, the source also of Old Saxon…

It is inherited from Middle English heden, inherited from Old English hēdan (“to take care, observe, attend, guard, take charge of”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hōdijan (“to heed, guard”)…

It is inherited from Middle English helle, inherited from Old English hel, helle (“the underworld, abode of the dead”), from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“the underworld”), literally “concealed place”…

The verb is inherited from Middle English helpen, inherited from Old English helpan (“to help, support; benefit; cure”), a strong verb (past tense healp, past participle holpen), from Proto-Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English here, earlier her, inherited from Old English hēr (“in this place; at this time; to this place”), from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r, formed from the pronominal stem *hi-…

It is inherited from Middle English hive, also heve, inherited from Old English hȳf, inherited from Proto-Germanic *hūfiz, which is not preserved elsewhere in Germanic. It is probably related to Old…

It is inherited from Middle English hord, inherited from Old English hord (“treasure, store”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *huzdą. It is cognate with Old Saxon hord (“treasure, hidden inmost…

It is inherited from Middle English holi, hali, inherited from Old English hālig (“holy, sacred, consecrated”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaga-, from *hailaz (“whole”), the source of whole, from…

It is inherited from Middle English hom, also hoom, inherited from Old English hām (“dwelling, house, estate, village”), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz, cognate with Old Frisian hām, Old Saxon hēm…

It is inherited from Old English horn (“horn of an animal; projection; wind instrument”), from Proto-Germanic *hurnaz, source also of Dutch hoorn, German Horn and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn), from PIE…

It is inherited from Middle English hors, inherited from Old English hors, from Proto-Germanic *hursą, of unknown origin. Some connect it with Proto-Indo-European *kers- (“to run”), the source of…

It is inherited from Middle English hound, earlier hund, inherited from Old English hund (“dog”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *hundaz, a derivative with a dental suffix of the Indo-European word…

It is inherited from Middle English hous, inherited from Old English hūs (“dwelling, shelter, house”), from Proto-Germanic *hūsan. Its cognates include Dutch huis, German Haus and Old Norse hús; in…

It is inherited from Middle English hou, also hu and how, inherited from Old English hū (“how”), from Proto-Germanic *hwō, which Hoad and Ayto describe as a West Germanic adverb formed on the base…

It is inherited from Middle English is, inherited from Old English īs (“ice, piece of ice”), also the name of the rune for i, from Proto-Germanic *īsa-, the source also of Old Norse íss, Dutch ijs…

It is inherited from Middle English if, earlier yif and gif, inherited from Old English gif (“if, whether”), also gyf. The Old English g stood for a sound close to modern y, which was then lost. The…

It is inherited from Middle English kennen, inherited from Old English cennan (“to make known, declare”), a causative of cunnan (“to know”) (see can), from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, cognate with…

1. The lock opener is inherited from Middle English keie, inherited from Old English cǣg, cǣge, a word of unknown origin whose only sure cognate is Old Frisian kēi. Barnhart, Merriam-Webster and…

It is inherited from Middle English kin, also kinne, kun and cun, inherited from Old English cynn (“family, race; kind, sort; nature”), from Proto-Germanic *kunją (“clan, family”). The Germanic word…

The noun is inherited from Middle English kinde, inherited from Old English gecynd (“kind, nature, race”), also cynd, from Proto-Germanic *gakundiz, formed from the collective prefix *ga-, the base…

It is inherited from Middle English king, inherited from Old English cyning, later contracted to cyng, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz. Its cognates include Old Frisian kening, Old Saxon kuning, Dutch…

It is inherited from Middle English knowen, also knawen, inherited from Old English cnāwan, past tense cnēow, earlier usually gecnāwan. It was a strong verb of the seventh class and originally a…

It is inherited from Middle English leir, inherited from Old English leger (“act or place of lying down; bed, couch; illness; grave”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *legrą, from Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Middle English lomb, inherited from Old English lamb (“lamb”), lomb, from Proto-Germanic *lambaz, source also of Dutch lam, German Lamm, Old Norse lamb and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌼𐌱 (lamb)…

It is inherited from Old English lama (“crippled, lame, paralytic, weak”) (about 750), from *lamô, cognate with Dutch lam, German lahm and Old Norse lami. Outside Germanic it is related to…

It is inherited from Middle English lond, inherited from Old English land (also lond), from Proto-Germanic *landą. Its cognates include Old Frisian land, Old Saxon land, German Land and Old Norse…

1. The verb meaning to continue is inherited from Middle English lasten, earlier læsten, inherited from Old English lǣstan (“to follow; to carry out; to continue, endure”), from Proto-Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English late (also lat), inherited from Old English læt (“slow, sluggish; late”), from Proto-Germanic *lataz (“slow, sluggish”), from Proto-Indo-European *lē- (“to let…

1. It is inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, inherited from Old English lecgan (“to place on the ground; to put down”), from Proto-Germanic *lagojanan, the causative of the verb that became…

1. To guide is inherited from Middle English leden, inherited from Old English lǣdan (“to cause to go with oneself, go before as a guide”), from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną, a causative of the verb…

It is inherited from Old English lēaf (“leaf of a plant; page of a book”), from Proto-Germanic *laubą, cognate with Old Frisian lāf, Dutch loof, German Laub (“foliage”), Old Norse lauf and Gothic…

1. It is inherited from Middle English lenen, inherited from Old English hleonian (“to recline, lie down, bend”) (West Saxon hlinian), from Proto-Germanic *hlinēn, source also of Old Saxon hlinon…

It is inherited from Middle English lepen, inherited from Old English hlēapan (“to jump, run, leap”), from Proto-Germanic *hlaupanan, cognate with Old Frisian hlāpa (“to run”), Old Saxon hlōpan…

It is inherited from Middle English lernen, inherited from Old English leornian (“to get knowledge, be cultivated; to study”), from Proto-Germanic *liznōjanan, with a base sense “to follow or find…

1. The verb is inherited from Middle English leven, inherited from Old English lǣfan (“to let remain; to bequeath”), from Proto-Germanic *laibjanan, a causative of the verb meaning “to remain” seen…

It is inherited from Middle English le, earlier leohe, inherited from Old English hlēo (“shelter, cover, protection”), from Proto-Germanic *hlewaz, which is also the source of Old Saxon hleo, Old…

It is inherited from Middle English lenden, an alteration of earlier lenen, inherited from Old English lǣnan (“to lend, grant temporarily”), from lǣn (“loan, gift”) (see loan), from Proto-Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English lesse, earlier læsse (about 1125), inherited from Old English lǣs (“less (adverb)”) and lǣssa (“less, smaller (adjective)”), which fused in Middle English. Both…