Heimweh (German)

Where does "Heimweh" come from?

The German noun 'Heimweh' is a compound word formed from 'Heim' and 'Weh'[1]. The first component traces back through Middle High German and Old High German 'heim'[2], originating from Proto-West Germanic '*haim'[2], Proto-Germanic '*haimaz'[6], and ultimately Proto-Indo-European '*ḱóymos'[7]. The second component derives from Middle High German 'wēwe', Old High German 'wēwo'[3][4], and Proto-Germanic '*waiwô'[3][4], which stems from Proto-Indo-European '*wai'[5]. Originally coined as a medical term in Switzerland[1], 'Heimweh' translates to homesickness.

Open questions

The derivation of Proto-Indo-European '*ḱóymos' involves competing proposals, being either from an o-grade form of '*ḱey-' combined with a suffix or from '*tḱóymos'. [7] [9] [10]
The meaning 'to be lying down' for the root '*ḱey-' may originate from 'to have fallen'. [8]

Full etymology tree

Heimweh (German), 'homesickness'
- compound Heim (German), 'home, one’s dwelling, the place where one is at home'
  - inherited heim (Middle High German)
    - inherited heim (Old High German)
      - inherited *haim (Proto-West Germanic), 'home'
        inherited *haimaz (Proto-Germanic), 'home'
        inherited *ḱóymos (Proto-Indo-European), 'homely, kin'
        derived *ḱey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be lying down'
        suffix *-mos (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates action/result nouns from verb stems.'
- compound Weh (German), 'psychological suffering; misery, woe'
  - inherited wēwe (Middle High German)
    - inherited wewo (Old High German), 'woe, pain, misery'
      - inherited *waiwô (Proto-Germanic), 'woe, grief, misery'
        inherited *wai (Proto-Indo-European)

Ancestors

Heim (German)
Weh (German)

Cognates and doublets

Häiwee (Alemannic German)

Descendants and derived words

hjemve (Danish)
heimwee (Dutch)
Heimweh (English)
homesickness (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris