Etymology

godparent

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Today it means: A person who, at a child's naming ceremony or baptism, agrees to help raise the child, originally and especially in regard to their religious development. Full definition →

English parent ← Middle English God ← Old English god
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰew-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰutós?
  3. Proto-Germanic*gudą
  4. Proto-West Germanic*god
  5. Old Englishgod
  6. Middle Englishgod
  7. Middle EnglishGod
  8. EnglishGod
  9. Englishgod-
  10. Englishparent
  11. English todaygodparent

From god- + parent, modelled after godfather, godmother, godsib, etc.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.