Etymology

oath

O1A1T1H4

Today it means: A solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity, a ruler, or another entity (not necessarily present) to attest the truth of a statement or sincerity of one's desire to fulfill a contract or promise. Full definition →

Middle English ooth ← Old English āþ ← Proto-West Germanic *aiþ
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*aiþaz“oath”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*aiþ“oath”
  3. Old English · inherited fromāþ“oath”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromooth
  5. English todayoath

From Middle English ooth, oth, ath, from Old English āþ (“oath”), from Proto-West Germanic *aiþ (“oath”), from Proto-Germanic *aiþaz (“oath”). Cognate with Scots aith, athe (“oath”), North Frisian ith, iss (“oath”), Saterland Frisian Eed (“oath”), West Frisian eed (“oath”), Dutch eed (“oath”), German Eid (“oath”), Swedish ed (“oath”), Icelandic eið (“oath”), Latin ūtor (“make use of, employ, avail”, verb), Old Irish óeth (“oath”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.