home (English)
Where does "home" come from?
The English word 'home' traces its lineage through Middle English 'hōm' and Old English 'hām'[1]. These forms descend from Proto-West Germanic '*haim' and Proto-Germanic '*haimaz', meaning 'home, village'[1]. Further back, the Germanic terms originate from Proto-Indo-European '*ḱóymos', meaning 'village, home'[1]. This Indo-European term is connected to the root '*ḱey-' meaning 'to settle' or '*tḱey-' meaning 'to settle, dwell'[1][4].
Open questions
- Proto-Germanic '*haimaz' derives either from the o-grade of '*ḱey-' combined with the suffix '*-mos' or alternatively from '*tḱóymos' based on '*tḱey-'. [4]
- The Proto-Indo-European root '*tḱey-' may be a reanalysed root formed from '*teḱ-' and an present suffix, or alternatively from a zero-grade element combined with '*ḱey-'. [9]
Full etymology tree
- home (English), 'A dwelling.'
- inherited hom (Middle English), 'home, residence, dwelling'
- inherited ham (Old English), 'home'
- inherited *haim (Proto-West Germanic), 'home'
- inherited *haimaz (Proto-Germanic), 'home'
- inherited *ḱóymos (Proto-Indo-European), 'homely, kin'
- suffix *-mos (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates action/result nouns from verb stems.'
- inherited *ḱóymos (Proto-Indo-European), 'homely, kin'
- inherited *haimaz (Proto-Germanic), 'home'
- inherited *haim (Proto-West Germanic), 'home'
- inherited ham (Old English), 'home'
- inherited hom (Middle English), 'home, residence, dwelling'
Ancestors
- *ḱey- (Proto-Indo-European)
- hom (Middle English)
- ham (Old English)
- *haim (Proto-West Germanic)
- *haimaz (Proto-Germanic)
- *ḱóymos (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- komb (Albanian)
- haim (Alemannic German)
- κεῖμαι (Ancient Greek)
- κώμη (Ancient Greek)
- hama (Bavarian)
- hòam (Cimbrian)
- hjem (Danish)
- heem (Dutch)
- heyem (English)
- Heim (German)
- 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌼𐍃 (Gothic)
- heim (Icelandic)
Descendants and derived words
- a house is not a home (English)
- a man's home is his castle (English)
- America at home (English)
- an Englishman's home is his castle (English)
- at home (English)
- at home (English)
- at-home card (English)
- at-homeness (English)
- away from home (English)
- back home (English)
- birthhome (English)
- boys' home (English)
Sources
- home (English) - Wiktionary
- ham (Old English) - Wiktionary
- hom (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- haimaz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- ḱey- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- haim (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- ḱóymos (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- heimr (Old Norse) - Wiktionary
- tḱey- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris