tear

tear · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*der-“to tear, tear apart”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*teraną“to tear, tear apart, rip”
3. Old English · inherited fromteran“to tear, lacerate”
4. Middle English · inherited fromteren
5. English todaytear

From Middle English teren, from Old English teran (“to tear, lacerate”), from Proto-Germanic *teraną (“to tear, tear apart, rip”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”). Cognate with Scots tere, teir, tair (“to rend, lacerate, wound, rip, tear out”), Dutch teren (“to eliminate, efface, live, survive by consumption”), German zehren (“to consume, misuse”), German zerren (“to tug, rip, tear”), Danish tære (“to consume”), Swedish tära (“to fret, consume, deplete, use up”), Icelandic tæra (“to clear, corrode”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Ancient Greek δέρω (dérō, “to skin”), Albanian ther (“to slay, skin, pierce”). Doublet of tire.

tear · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dáḱru-“tear”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*tahrą“tear”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*tahr
4. Old English · inherited fromteagor
5. Middle English · inherited fromtear
6. English todaytear

From Middle English tear, teer, teere, ter, tere, tyar, tyear, tyer, tær (“tear”), from Old English teagor, tēar, tæher, from Proto-West Germanic *tahr, from Proto-Germanic *tahrą (“tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dáḱru- (“tear”). Cognates Cognate with German Zähre (“tear”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk tåre (“tear”), Faroese and Icelandic tár (“tear”), Swedish tår (“tear”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂 (tagr, “teardrop”); also Cornish dager (“tear; drop”), Irish deoir (“tear”), Manx jeir (“tear”), Scottish Gaelic deur (“tear; drop”), Welsh deigryn (“tear”), Latin dacrima, dacruma, lachryma, lacrima, lacruma, lacryma (“tear”), Greek δάκρυ (dákry, “tear”), Armenian արտոսր (artosr, “tear”).

Words from the same roots