Etymology

fist

F4I1S1T1

Today it means: A hand with the fingers clenched or curled inward. Full definition →

Middle English fist ← Old English fȳst ← Proto-West Germanic *fūsti
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fist · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*pewǵ-“to punch; to prick, stab”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fūsti“fist”
  3. Old English · inherited fromfȳst“fist”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromfist
  5. English todayfist

From Middle English fist, from Old English fȳst (“fist”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūsti (“fist”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to punch; to prick, stab”). Cognates Cognate with Yola fest, hist (“fist”), Saterland Frisian Fäste, Fääste (“fist”), West Frisian fûst (“fist”), Central Franconian Fuus (“fist”), Cimbrian bòista, vòista (“fist”), Dutch vuist (“fist”), German Faust (“fist”), Low German Fuust (“fist”), Luxembourgish Fauscht (“fist”), Vilamovian faojst, faust (“fist”), Yiddish פֿויסט (foyst, “fist”); also Irish fuaigh (“sew, stitch”), Latin pugnus (“fist”), Ancient Greek πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist”), πύκτης (púktēs, “boxer, pugilist”), Lithuanian kumštis (“fist”), Bulgarian пестник (pestnik, “fist; punch”), Czech pěst (“fist”), Polish pięść (“fist”), Russian пясть (pjastʹ, “metacarpus”), Serbo-Croatian пе̏ст, pȅst, пѐсница, pèsnica (“fist”), Slovak päsť (“fist”), Slovene pest (“fist”). More at five.

fist · verb, noun2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)peys-“to blow, breathe”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fīsaną“to break or discharge wind, fart”
  3. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fistaz“breaking wind, fart”
  4. Old English · derived from*fistan
  5. Middle English · derived fromfisten
  6. English todayfist

From Middle English fisten, fiesten, from Old English *fistan ("to break wind gently"; supported by Old English fisting (“breaking wind”)), from Proto-Germanic *fistaz (“breaking wind, fart”), from Proto-Germanic *fīsaną (“to break or discharge wind, fart”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Cognate with Dutch veest (“a fart”), Low German fīsten (“to break wind”), German Fist (“a quiet wind”), Fisten (“breaking wind”), Swedish fisa (“to fart”), Latin spīrō (“breathe, blow”).

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishfist all →

feast

Proto-Indo-European*pewǵ- all →

pugilist

Proto-Germanic*fīsaną all →

fise

Proto-Indo-European*(s)peys- all →

spiritinspiresprightlyfiseirrespirable

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.