*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of food

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *fōdô Old English fōda Middle English fode English food From Middle English fode, foode, from Old English fōda (“food”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōdō, from P

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 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.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

Any solid substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life. · A foodstuff, a type of food. · Anything that nourishes or sustains. · Any illegal substance or illegal substances, drugs.

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

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *fōdô Old English fōda Middle English fode English food From Middle English fode, foode, from Old English fōda (“food”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōdō, from Proto-Germanic *fōdô (“food”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to guard, graze, feed”). Cognate with Scots fuid (“food”), Low German föde, vöde (“food”), West Frisian fiedsel (“food”), Dutch voedsel (“food”) Danish føde (“food”), Swedish föda (“food”), Icelandic fæða, fæði (“food”), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (fōdeins, “food”), Latin pānis (“bread, food”), Latin pāscō (“feed, nourish”, verb). Related to fodder, foster.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:fode",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *peh₂-der.\nProto-Germanic *fōdô\nOld English fōda\nMiddle English fode\nEnglish food\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*peh₂-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*fōdô\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"fōda\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"fode\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"food\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"food\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "fode"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English fode"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "fōda",
        "4": "",
        "5": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English fōda (“food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*fōdō"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *fōdō"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*fōdô",
        "4": "",
        "5": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *fōdô (“food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*peh₂-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to guard, graze, feed"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to guard, graze, feed”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "fuid",
        "3": "",
        "4": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots fuid (“food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "föde"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German föde"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "fiedsel",
        "3": "",
        "4": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian fiedsel (“food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "voedsel",
        "3": "",
        "4": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch voedsel (“food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "føde",
        "3": "",
        "4": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish føde (“food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "föda",
        "3": "",
        "4": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish föda (“food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "fæða"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic fæða"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐍆𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃",
        "3": "",
        "4": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (fōdeins, “food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "pānis",
        "3": "",
        "4": "bread, food"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin pānis (“bread, food”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "pāscō",
        "3": "",
        "4": "feed, nourish",
        "pos": "verb"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin pāscō (“feed, nourish”, verb)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:fode",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *peh₂-der.\nProto-Germanic *fōdô\nOld English fōda\nMiddle English fode\nEnglish food"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*peh₂-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/peh₂-"
    ],
    [
      "*fōdô",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/fōdô"
    ],
    [
      "fōda",
      "foda#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "fode",
      "fode#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fode",
      "fode#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "foode",
      "foode#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fōda",
      "foda#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*fōdō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/fōdō"
    ],
    [
      "*fōdô",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/fōdô"
    ],
    [
      "*peh₂-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/peh₂-"
    ],
    [
      "fuid",
      "fuid#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "föde",
      "föde#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "vöde",
      "vöde#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "fiedsel",
      "fiedsel#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "voedsel",
      "voedsel#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "føde",
      "føde#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "föda",
      "föda#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "fæða",
      "fæða#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "fæði",
      "fæði#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "𐍆𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃",
      "𐍆𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "pānis",
      "panis#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "pāscō",
      "pasco#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "fodder",
      "fodder#English"
    ],
    [
      "foster",
      "foster#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Any solid substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life.",
        "A foodstuff, a type of food.",
        "Anything that nourishes or sustains.",
        "Any illegal substance or illegal substances, drugs."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "usually",
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "Multicultural-London-English"
      ],
      "recordId": "2dddb84cc8bc40654d0685865065022d2d8af0525c27842532dba072b096e49e",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a52bef17e795002aeec53bcaed592a209ce53f15da6ca987be5fe479a2e8cfb7",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 7703
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

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 food →

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-Zm9vZA