*plew-

Reconstruction

LIV reconstructs *pleu̯- "to swim, to float",^[1] Matasović *plew-,^[2] and Beekes and de Vaan *pleu-.^[3][4] LIV also notes the extended roots *pleu̯-d- and *pleu̯-k-.^[1]

Morphology

LIV reconstructs a full-grade thematic present *pléu̯-e- in Sanskrit प्लवते (plávate), Ancient Greek πλέω (pléō), Latin pluit and Old Church Slavonic пловѫ (plovǫ), a sigmatic aorist *plḗu̯/pléu̯-s-, a causative *plou̯-éi̯e- in Vedic, Avestan and Old High German, and a doubtful desiderative in the Greek future.^[1] Kümmel's Addenda set up an acrodynamic present *plḗu̯-/pléu̯-, kept in Tocharian and thematized in Vedic and elsewhere, a causative ?*plṓu̯-ei̯e- in Lithuanian pláuti and Old Church Slavonic плавити (plaviti), and an essive ?*plu-éh₁- in pluvė́ti.^[5] Beekes calls this thematic present a PIE formation, and compares its future with Old Irish luïd from *pleu-s-.^[3]

Evidence

Eight branches are cited under Reflexes, with Tocharian among them but no Anatolian form.^[1][6] Mallory and Adams note that the meaning "swim" survives in Greek and Sanskrit, while other cognates mean "move", "rain" or "flow".^[7]

Competing analyses

Derksen finds Balto-Slavic evidence both for *pleu- and for *pleh₃(u)-, to which he assigns Greek πλώω (plṓō) and Old Norse flóa.^[8] Kroonen derives Proto-Germanic *flōan- (“to flow”) from *plóu-e-.^[9] Martirosyan reports that Armenian լուանամ (luanam) is mostly derived from *pleu- "to wash", but has also been connected with Greek λούω (loúō) and Latin lavō.^[10]

Meanings

1. to swim, to float,^[1][4] to flow, to fly^[6]
2. to wash^[10]

In Italic the verb came to mean "to rain", as Latin pluō, and Lithuanian pláuti means "to rinse, wash off".^[4]

Derivatives

• *plou-io- "ship": Ancient Greek πλοῖον (ploîon), Proto-Germanic *flauja-.^[11]
• *plouo-: Ancient Greek πλόος (plóos), Tocharian B plewe (“ship”).^[3]
• The word for "lung", Ancient Greek πλεύμων (pleúmōn) and Latin pulmō, starts from this root, though the correspondences are slightly irregular.^[12]
• Proto-Celtic *flowyo- (“rudder”), originally "floater".^[2]

Reflexes

• Indo-Iranian: LIV cites Sanskrit प्लवते (plávate, “swims, floats”).^[1]
• Greek: Ancient Greek πλέω (pléō, “to sail, to swim”).^[3]
• Italic: Latin pluit (“it rains”).^[4]
• Celtic: Proto-Celtic *flowyo- (“rudder”).^[2]
• Germanic: Proto-Germanic *flauja- (“ship”).^[11]
• Balto-Slavic: Lithuanian pláuti (“to rinse”) and Proto-Slavic *pluti (“to swim, sail”).^[13][14]
• Armenian: Old Armenian լուանամ (luanam, “to wash”).^[10]
• Tocharian: Tocharian B plu- (“to soar, fly up”).^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *pleu̯-
2. ^ a b c Matasović, Ranko (2009), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 139
3. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. πλέω
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. pluō
5. ^ Kümmel, Martin Joachim, Addenda und Corrigenda zu LIV², online document, last change 16 June 2026, p. 76
6. ^ a b c Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), A Dictionary of Tocharian B, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 462
7. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006), The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford: OUP, p. 404
8. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 403
9. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 147
10. ^ a b c Martirosyan, Hrach K. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 330
11. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 145
12. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. πλεύμων
13. ^ Hock, Wolfgang, et al. (2015), Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (ALEW), online and Hamburg: Baar, p. s.v. pláuti
14. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 406