Etymology

owe

O1W4E1

Today it means: To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone. Full definition →

Middle English owen ← Old English āgan ← Proto-West Germanic *aigan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eyḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eh₂óyḱe
  3. Proto-Germanic*aiganą
  4. Proto-West Germanic*aigan
  5. Old Englishāgan
  6. Middle Englishowen
  7. English todayowe

From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought. Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishāgan all →

agoought

Proto-West Germanic*aigan all →

own

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.