Etymology

eaves

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Today it means: The underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building. Full definition →

Middle English eves ← Old English efes ← Proto-West Germanic *ubisu
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eaves · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*upér“above; over”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ubiswō
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*ubisu“hall”
  4. Old English · inherited fromefes
  5. Middle English · inherited fromeves“projecting lower edge of a roof”
  6. English todayeaves

PIE word *upér From Middle English eves (“projecting lower edge of a roof”) [and other forms], from Old English efes, yfes, *ofes (“edge of a roof”), from Proto-West Germanic *ubisu (“hall”), from Proto-Germanic *ubiswō (compare Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌶𐍅𐌰 (ubizwa), Old High German obasa (“hall; porch; roof”)), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“above; over”) (whence over).

eaves · noun2

From eave + -s, from a misinterpretation of the -s ending of eaves as forming a plural.

Eaves · proper noun3

  1. Old English · derived fromefes
  2. Middle English · derived fromatte evese“at the border, edge”
  3. English todayEaves

English surname, from Middle English atte evese (“at the border, edge”), from Old English efes. Compare Reeves. Also sometimes a variant of Eve.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishefes all →

Woodhouse Eaves

Proto-Indo-European*upér all →

oversummitsovereigntyhyper-over-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.