well

well · adverb, adjective, interjection¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*welh₁-
2. Proto-Germanic*welazder.?
3. Proto-Germanic*welat?
4. Proto-Germanic*wela
5. Old Englishwel
6. Middle Englishwel, wal, wol, wele
7. English todaywell

From Middle English wel, wal, wol, wele, from Old English wel (“well, abundantly, very, very easily, very much, fully, quite, nearly”), from Proto-Germanic *wela, *wala (“well”, literally “as wished, as desired”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“wish, desire”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vella, waal, wel, well, wull (“well”), Cimbrian boll, bóol (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German wohl, wol, woll (“well”), Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk vel (“well”), Faroese væl (“well”), Swedish väl, waͤl (“well”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (waila, “well”). Related to will.

well · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*welH-“to turn; wind; roll”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wallijǭ“well, swirl, wave”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wallijā
4. Old English · inherited fromwielle“well”
5. Middle English · inherited fromwelle
6. English todaywell

From Middle English welle, from Old English wielle (“well”), from Proto-West Germanic *wallijā, from Proto-Germanic *wallijǭ (“well, swirl, wave”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn; wind; roll”). Cognate with West Frisian wel (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German Low German Well (“well”), German Welle (“wave”), Danish væld (“well; spring”), Swedish väl (“well”), Icelandic vella (“boiling; bubbling; eruption”).

well · verb³

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wallaną
2. Old English · inherited fromweallan
3. Middle English · inherited fromwellen
4. English todaywell

From Middle English wellen, from a merger of Old English weallan (intransitive) and wiellan (transitive), both meaning “to boil.” Further from Proto-Germanic *wallaną and *wallijaną. Doublet of wall. Cognate with German wallen (“boil, seethe”), Danish vælde (“gush”), Norwegian Nynorsk vella and outside Germanic, with Albanian valë (“hot, boiling”).

Well · proper noun⁴

Most, if not all, of the placenames are derived from the noun well.

Words from the same roots