Etymology

wheeze

W4H4E1E1Z10E1

Today it means: To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma. Full definition →

Middle English whesen ← Old Norse hvæsa ← Proto-Indo-European *ḱwes-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱwes-“to pant”
  2. Old Norse · derived fromhvæsa“to hiss”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromwhesen
  4. English todaywheeze

From Middle English whesen, perhaps from Old Norse hvæsa (“to hiss”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwes- (“to pant”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*ḱwes- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.