entry
day
/deɪ/A 24-hour period or daylight interval
From Proto-Germanic, ultimately disputed Proto-Indo-European origin day (Daylight).
from PIE root *dhegh- "to burn" (see fever ). Not considered to be related to Latin dies (which is
from Proto-Germanic *dages- "day" (source also of Old Saxon, Middle Dutch, Dutch dag , Old Frisian di, dei , Old High...
+1 more sourcefrom Old English dæġ
from Middle English day
Word Ancestry
from PIE root *dhegh- "to burn" (see fever ). Not considered to be related to Latin dies (which is
from Proto-Germanic *dages- "day" (source also of Old Saxon, Middle Dutch, Dutch dag , Old Frisian di, dei , Old High...
+1 more sourcefrom Old English dæġ
from Middle English day
For early English speakers, a day was initially not the neat 24-hour package shown on a modern calendar; it meant the bright stretch when the sun was above the horizon. Only in late Anglo-Saxon times did it broaden into the full cycle of light and darkness. The word probably traveled through Proto-Germanic *dagaz, but scholars still argue about its deepest ancestor: one theory links it to Proto-Indo-European *dhegh-, “to burn,” while another proposes *agh-, “a day.” So English day is not considered a cousin of Latin dies, despite their suspiciously similar appearances; dies comes from a different root associated with shining. Its family does produce a delightful botanical surprise: Old English dæges eage, “day’s eye,” became daisy because the flower opens at dawn and shuts at dusk. A daisy is therefore, in miniature, a little eye that keeps time with the sun.
The Story
For early English speakers, a day was initially not the neat 24-hour package shown on a modern calendar; it meant the bright stretch when the sun was above the horizon. Only in late Anglo-Saxon times did it broaden into the full cycle of light and darkness. The word probably traveled through Proto-Germanic *dagaz, but scholars still argue about its deepest ancestor: one theory links it to Proto-Indo-European *dhegh-, “to burn,” while another proposes *agh-, “a day.” So English day is not considered a cousin of Latin dies, despite their suspiciously similar appearances; dies comes from a different root associated with shining. Its family does produce a delightful botanical surprise: Old English dæges eage, “day’s eye,” became daisy because the flower opens at dawn and shuts at dusk. A daisy is therefore, in miniature, a little eye that keeps time with the sun.
Kin & Kindred
From 'day'·Daylight, a day, a period of time
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary