Etymology

air

A1I1R1

Today it means: The substance constituting Earth's atmosphere: a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases. Full definition →

Middle English aire ← Old French air ← Latin āēr
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ews-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ewsér
  3. Proto-Hellenic*auhḗr
  4. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)
  5. Latināēr
  6. Old Frenchair
  7. Middle Englishaire
  8. English todayair

From Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). Displaced native Old English lyft. More at lift, loft.

Words from the same roots

Latināēr all →

aerenchymaaereous

Ancient Greekἀήρ all →

ariaaerobicaerostataeroscepsis

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.