Etymology

divide

D2I1V4I1D2E1

Today it means: To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. Full definition →

Middle English dividen ← Latin dīvidō ← Proto-Italic *wiðō
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  3. Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
  4. Proto-Italic*dis-
  5. Latindis-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  7. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*h₁weydʰh₁-
  10. Proto-Italic*wiðō
  11. Latin*vidō
  12. Latindīvidō
  13. Middle Englishdividen
  14. English todaydivide

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English dividen, from Latin dīvidere (“to divide”). Displaced native Old English tōdǣlan related to English deal which formerly meant a “portion” or “part” of something.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishdividen all →

divided

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.