Grimm's law

proper noun

A sound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic, causing devoicing or change into a fricative.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. Indo European studiesA sound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic, causing devoicing or change into a fricative.
  2. Indo European studiesThe description of this sound change (as originally formulated by Jacob Grimm), which establishes a set of regular correspondences between early Germanic stops and fricatives, and the consonants of Proto-Indo-European and most other Indo-European languages.

Origin

Named for Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German author, linguist and folklorist.

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Translations

Chinese Mandarin 格林定律
  • 格林定律sound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
Dutch eerste Germaanse klankverschuiving, wet van Grimm
  • eerste Germaanse klankverschuivingsound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
  • wet van Grimmsound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
French loi de Grimm
  • loi de Grimmsound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
German erste Lautverschiebung, Grimmsches Gesetz
  • erste Lautverschiebungsound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
  • Grimmsches Gesetzsound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
Polish prawo Grimma
  • prawo Grimmasound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
Portuguese lei de Grimm
  • lei de Grimmsound change that affected the Proto-Indo-European stop consonants in the development of Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry
APA

Grimm's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Grimm's%20law

MLA

“Grimm's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Grimm's%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Grimm's law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Grimm's%20law.

Source: Grimm's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.