Etymology of world

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 ↗

verb

To consider or cause to be considered from a global perspective; to consider as a global whole, rather than making or focusing on national or other distinctions; compare globalize. · To make real; to make worldly.

noun

The subjective human experience, regarded collectively; human collective existence; existence in general; the reality we live in. · The subjective human experience, regarded individually. · A majority of people. · The Universe.

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

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós Proto-Germanic *weraz Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *h₂életi Proto-Germanic *alaną Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Germanic *-þiz Proto-Germanic *aldiz Proto-Germanic *weraldiz Proto-West Germanic *weraldi Old English weorold Middle English world English world From Middle English world, from Old English weorold (“world”), from Proto-West Germanic *weraldi, from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz (“lifetime, human existence, world”, literally “age/era of man”), equivalent to wer (“man”) + eld (“age”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English mounde (“world”), from Old French monde, munde (“world”). Cognates Cognate with Scots warld (“world”), North Frisian Wārel, wäält, wråål (“world”), Saterland Frisian Waareld (“world”), West Frisian wrâld (“world”), Afrikaans wêreld (“world”), Bavarian Wöd (“world”), Dutch wereld (“world”), German, Luxembourgish Welt (“world”), German Low German Wereld, Werld (“world”), Vilamovian wełt (“world”), Yiddish וועלט (velt, “world”), Danish verden (“world”), Elfdalian wärd (“world”), Faroese verð, verøld (“world”), Icelandic veröld (“world”), Norn vrildan (“the earth”), Norwegian Bokmål verd, verden (“(the) world”), Norwegian Nynorsk verd (“world”), Swedish värld (“world”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inherited-form mentionworldenm
Inherited-form mentionweoroldang · world
Inherited-form mention*weraldigmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*weraldizgem-pro · lifetime, human existence, world
Compound componentwerang · man
Compound componenteldang · age
Non-cognate comparisonmoundeenm · world
Non-cognate comparisonmondefro
Cognate mentionwarldsco · world
Cognate mentionWārelfrr
Cognate mentionWaareldstq · world
Cognate mentionwrâldfy · world
Cognate mentionwêreldaf · world
Cognate mentionWödbar · world
Cognate mentionwereldnl · world
Cognate mentionWeltlb · world
Cognate mentionwełtwym · world
Cognate mentionוועלטyi · world
Cognate mentionverdenda · world
Cognate mentionwärdovd · world
Cognate mentionverðfo
Cognate mentionveröldis · world
Cognate mentionvrildannrn · the earth
Cognate mentionverdnb
Cognate mentionverdnn · world
Cognate mentionvärldsv · world

This page abbreviates 15 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:world<id:Q2>",
        "id": "Q2",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *weyh₁-?\nProto-Indo-European *wiHrós\nProto-Germanic *weraz\nProto-Indo-European *h₂el-\nProto-Indo-European *h₂életi\nProto-Germanic *alaną\nProto-Indo-European *-tis\nProto-Germanic *-þiz\nProto-Germanic *aldiz\nProto-Germanic *weraldiz\nProto-West Germanic *weraldi\nOld English weorold\nMiddle English world\nEnglish world\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*weraz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"age\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"grow\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"be nourishing\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"grow\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₂el-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₂életi\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*alaną\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"abstract noun suffix\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"action nouns\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-tis\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-þiz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*aldiz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*weraldiz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*weraldi\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"weorold\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"world\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"world\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"Q2\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"world\" id=\"English:_Q2\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English world"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "weorold",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English weorold (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*weraldi"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *weraldi"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*weraldiz",
        "t": "lifetime, human existence, world",
        "lit": "age/era of man"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *weraldiz (“lifetime, human existence, world”, literally “age/era of man”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "com",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "wer",
        "3": "eld",
        "t1": "man",
        "t2": "age",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "wer (“man”) + eld (“age”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "ncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "mounde",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English mounde (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "ncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "monde"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French monde"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "warld",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots warld (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "frr",
        "2": "Wārel"
      },
      "expansion": "North Frisian Wārel"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "Waareld",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian Waareld (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "wrâld",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian wrâld (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "af",
        "2": "wêreld",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Afrikaans wêreld (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bar",
        "2": "Wöd",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Bavarian Wöd (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "wereld",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch wereld (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "German"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lb",
        "2": "Welt",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Luxembourgish Welt (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "Wereld"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German Wereld"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "wym",
        "2": "wełt",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Vilamovian wełt (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yi",
        "2": "וועלט",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish וועלט (velt, “world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "verden",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish verden (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ovd",
        "2": "wärd",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Elfdalian wärd (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "verð"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese verð"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "veröld",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic veröld (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nrn",
        "2": "vrildan",
        "t": "the earth"
      },
      "expansion": "Norn vrildan (“the earth”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "verd"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål verd"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "verd",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk verd (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "värld",
        "t": "world"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish värld (“world”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:world<id:Q2>",
        "id": "Q2",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *weyh₁-?\nProto-Indo-European *wiHrós\nProto-Germanic *weraz\nProto-Indo-European *h₂el-\nProto-Indo-European *h₂életi\nProto-Germanic *alaną\nProto-Indo-European *-tis\nProto-Germanic *-þiz\nProto-Germanic *aldiz\nProto-Germanic *weraldiz\nProto-West Germanic *weraldi\nOld English weorold\nMiddle English world\nEnglish world"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*weyh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/weyh₁-"
    ],
    [
      "*wiHrós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wiHrós#Proto-Indo-European:_man"
    ],
    [
      "*weraz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/weraz#Proto-Germanic:_man"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂el-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂el-#Proto-Indo-European:_grow"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂életi",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂életi#Proto-Indo-European:_be_nourishing"
    ],
    [
      "*alaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/alaną#Proto-Germanic:_grow"
    ],
    [
      "*-tis",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-tis#Proto-Indo-European:_action_nouns"
    ],
    [
      "*-þiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-þiz#Proto-Germanic:_abstract_noun_suffix"
    ],
    [
      "*aldiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/aldiz#Proto-Germanic:_age"
    ],
    [
      "*weraldiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/weraldiz#Proto-Germanic:_lifetime"
    ],
    [
      "*weraldi",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/weraldi#Proto-West_Germanic:_world"
    ],
    [
      "weorold",
      "weorold#Old_English:_world"
    ],
    [
      "world",
      "world#Middle_English:_Q2"
    ],
    [
      "world",
      "world#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "weorold",
      "weorold#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*weraldi",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/weraldi"
    ],
    [
      "*weraldiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/weraldiz"
    ],
    [
      "wer",
      "wer#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "eld",
      "eld#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "mounde",
      "mounde#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "monde",
      "monde#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "munde",
      "munde#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "warld",
      "warld#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "Wārel",
      "Wārel#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "wäält",
      "wäält#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "wråål",
      "wråål#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "Waareld",
      "Waareld#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "wrâld",
      "wrâld#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "wêreld",
      "wêreld#Afrikaans"
    ],
    [
      "Wöd",
      "Wöd#Bavarian"
    ],
    [
      "wereld",
      "wereld#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Welt",
      "Welt#Luxembourgish"
    ],
    [
      "Wereld",
      "Wereld#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "Werld",
      "Werld#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "wełt",
      "wełt#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "וועלט",
      "וועלט#Yiddish"
    ],
    [
      "verden",
      "verden#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "wärd",
      "wärd#Elfdalian"
    ],
    [
      "verð",
      "verð#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "verøld",
      "verøld#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "veröld",
      "veröld#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "vrildan",
      "vrildan#Norn"
    ],
    [
      "verd",
      "verd#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "verden",
      "verden#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "verd",
      "verd#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "värld",
      "värld#Swedish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To consider or cause to be considered from a global perspective; to consider as a global whole, rather than making or focusing on national or other distinctions; compare globalize.",
        "To make real; to make worldly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "4dae46780116a9b092b258fcb6f3d1ae9fb6e2887eef719063b67a15dff27a52",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 7745
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The subjective human experience, regarded collectively; human collective existence; existence in general; the reality we live in.",
        "The subjective human experience, regarded individually.",
        "A majority of people.",
        "The Universe."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "metonymically",
        "with-definite-article"
      ],
      "recordId": "f18a2aa6131e7b254f01ea5d3a49208de28cacf591ea58654db1638651e8c3d0",
      "rawRecordSha256": "f5dcc81815f4929d152cf51517bddc6dfb29e5e9d8f72e5cb259ad11a83213cb",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 7744
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  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 15,
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  }
}

The source etymologies

Unnumbered source etymology

Relationships mentioned by the source

Where this record stops

Source and snapshot