Etymology

underwear

U1N1D2E1R1W4E1A1R1

Today it means: Clothes worn next to the skin, underneath outer clothing. Full definition →

English wear ← Middle English weren ← Old English werian
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁entér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂én
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
  5. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰí
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰér
  7. Proto-Germanic*under
  8. Proto-West Germanic*undar
  9. Old Englishunder-
  10. Middle Englishunder-
  11. Englishunder-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*wes-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*woséyeti
  14. Proto-Germanic*wazjaną
  15. Proto-West Germanic*waʀjan
  16. Old Englishwerian
  17. Middle Englishweren
  18. Englishwear
  19. English todayunderwear

From under- + -wear. Compare Dutch ondergoed, German Unterwäsche, Swedish underkläder.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.