Curio
Today

mouth

MOWTH · noun

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicProto-West GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Origin

English mouth comes from Old English mūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *munþ, from Proto-Germanic *munþaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ment- meaning 'to chew; jaw, mouth'.

Journey

The verb 'to mouth' developed later in Middle English, formed directly from the noun.

Related words

It's cognate with German Mund, Dutch mond, and Swedish mun, all meaning 'mouth' — and more distantly with Latin mentum ('chin') and mandō ('to chew'), showing the same root chewing its way into different body parts across languages.

More words

From Proto-West Germanic

Nearby, A–Z

All words A–Z →