wereld (Dutch)

Where does "wereld" come from?

The Dutch word 'wereld' shares a deep Germanic root with the English 'world,' tracing back to the Proto-Germanic compound *weraldiz. This term was forged from words meaning 'man' and 'age' or 'lifetime,' literally translating to the 'era of man.' Through Old and Middle Dutch, the word evolved to represent the totality of human existence and the physical world as we know it today.

Full etymology tree

• wereld (Dutch), 'world'
  • inherited werelt (Middle Dutch)
    • inherited werold (Old Dutch)
      • inherited *weraldi (Proto-West Germanic), 'world'
        • inherited *weraldiz (Proto-Germanic), 'lifetime, worldly existence'
          • compound *weraz (Proto-Germanic), 'man'
            • inherited *wiHrós (Proto-Indo-European), 'man'
          • compound *aldiz (Proto-Germanic), 'age, generation'
            • derived *alaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to grow'
            • suffix *-þiz (Proto-Germanic), 'Forms abstract nouns from verb roots, usually from strong verbs.'

Ancestors

• *weraldi (Proto-West Germanic)
• *weraldiz (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

• world (English)
• Welt (German)
• värld (Swedish)
• wrâld (West Frisian)

Descendants and derived words

• wêreld (Afrikaans)
• droomwereld (Dutch)
• omwereld (Dutch)
• onderwereld (Dutch)
• 's werelds (Dutch)
• wereld- (Dutch)
• wereldbeeld (Dutch)
• wereldbol (Dutch)
• wereldbrand (Dutch)
• wereldburger (Dutch)
• werelddeel (Dutch)
• werelderfgoed (Dutch)

Updated July 2026

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