English word origin

Etymology of eerie

From Middle English eri (“fearful”), from Old English earg (“cowardly, fearful”), from Proto-West Germanic *arg, from Proto-Germanic *argaz. Akin to Scots ergh, argh from the same Old English source. Doublet of argh.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

adj

Inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way; strange, weird. · Frightened, timid.

noun

An eerie creature or thing.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionerienm
Inherited-form mentioneargang
Inherited-form mention*arggmw-pro
Derivation mention*argazgem-pro
Cognate mentionarghsco
Doublet mentionarghen

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "eri",
        "4": "",
        "5": "fearful"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English eri (“fearful”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "earg",
        "4": "",
        "5": "cowardly, fearful"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English earg (“cowardly, fearful”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*arg"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *arg"
    },
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      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*argaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *argaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "argh",
        "alt": "ergh, argh"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots ergh, argh"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "argh"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of argh"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
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      "eri#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "earg#Old_English"
    ],
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      "*arg",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/arg"
    ],
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      "*argaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/argaz"
    ],
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      "ergh, argh",
      "argh#Scots"
    ],
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      "argh",
      "argh#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way; strange, weird.",
        "Frightened, timid."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "An eerie creature or thing."
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

Alternative spelling of eyrie.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

See eyrie.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "lexical": [
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        "Alternative spelling of eyrie."
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for eerie →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-ZWVyaWU