Etymology

follow

fol·low
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Today it means: To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction, especially with the intent of catching. Full definition →

Middle English folwen ← Old English folgian ← Proto-West Germanic *folgēn
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fulgāną“to follow”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*folgēn
  3. Old English · inherited fromfolgian“to follow, pursue”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromfolwen
  5. English todayfollow

From Middle English folwen, folȝen, folgen, from Old English folgian (“to follow, pursue”), from Proto-West Germanic *folgēn, from Proto-Germanic *fulgāną (“to follow”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.