war (English)
Where does "war" come from?
The word "war" originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *wers-, meaning to confuse or mix up. It evolved into the Frankish *werru, which denoted a state of quarrel or confusion, before passing through Medieval Latin and Old Northern French to enter English as "werre." This term eventually displaced various native English words to become the standard term for describing organized armed conflict.
Full etymology tree
- war (English), 'To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).'
- inherited werre (Middle English), 'A war; a large-scale military conflict.'
- inherited werre/wyrre (Late Old English)
- borrowed guerre/werre (Old Northern French)
- inherited werra (Latin), 'war'
- borrowed *werru (Frankish)
- inherited *wers- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to wipe'
- borrowed *werru (Frankish)
- inherited werra (Latin), 'war'
- borrowed guerre/werre (Old Northern French)
- inherited werre/wyrre (Late Old English)
- inherited werre (Middle English), 'A war; a large-scale military conflict.'
Direct ancestors
- werre (Middle English)
- werra (Latin)
- wers- (Proto-Indo-European)
- guerre (French)
- beadu (Old English)
- werra (Old High German)
- verwirren (German)
- werran (Old Saxon)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris