asunder

asunder · adverb, adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*senH-“apart; for oneself; without”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sundraz“alone, separate”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sundr
4. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*h₂en-“on, onto”
5. Old English · inherited fromonsundrum
6. Middle English · inherited fromasunder
7. English todayasunder

From Middle English asunder, asonder (“apart in position, distant; apart in movement; to pieces; alone, separately; distinct in kind, different”), asondri (“distinct, separate”), onsunder, onsondre (“apart, asunder; alone, separately; especially, particularly (?)”), from Old English onsundrum, on sundur (“asunder, apart, privately”), probably from on- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”)) + sundor, sunder (“alone, apart; separately; privately”) (from Proto-West Germanic *sundr, from Proto-Germanic *sundraz (“alone, separate”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *senH- (“apart; for oneself; without”)). By surface analysis, a- (prefix meaning ‘at; in; on’ denoting a condition, manner, or state) + sunder (“(obsolete except dialectal) different; separate”). cognates * Danish sønder * Dutch zonder * Faroese sundur * German sonder * Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍂𐍉 (sundrō) * Icelandic sundur * Norwegian Bokmål sunder, sønder * Swedish sönder

asunder · verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sundrōną“to separate, sunder”
2. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*úd“away; out”
3. Old English · inherited fromasundran
4. Middle English · inherited fromasondren“to alienate; to separate; to depart; to part company; to disappear”
5. English todayasunder

From Middle English asondren (“to alienate; to separate; to depart; to part company; to disappear”), from Old English asundran, āsundrian (“to disjoin; to separate; to sunder, put asunder; to sever”) (possibly influenced by onsundrum (adverb): see etymology 1), from ā- (prefix meaning ‘away; from’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“away; out”)) + sundrian (“to separate, sunder”) (from Proto-Germanic *sundrōną (“to separate, sunder”), from *sundraz (“alone, separate”) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōną (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives)).

Words from the same roots