entry
fart
/fɑːrt/Expel intestinal gas through the anus
From English, from Proto-Germanic fart (To expel intestinal gas).
from PIE *perd- (source also of Old High German ferzan , Old Norse freta , Danish fjerte , Sanskrit pard , Greek...
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *fertaną
from Old English *feortan
from Middle English ferten, farten
Word Ancestry
from PIE *perd- (source also of Old High German ferzan , Old Norse freta , Danish fjerte , Sanskrit pard , Greek...
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *fertaną
from Old English *feortan
from Middle English ferten, farten
Long before anyone worried about sounding polite, people were making noises that needed naming, and this one has carried its blunt little syllable across Europe for thousands of years. English fart goes back through Middle English ferten and Old English *feortan to Proto-Germanic *fertaną, ultimately linked to the reconstructed PIE root *perd-. That same ancient family includes Sanskrit pard, Greek perdein, Russian perdet, and Scandinavian forms such as Old Norse freta—a remarkably international vocabulary for something usually discussed in private. The word may even be imitative in origin: the sound itself seems to have helped shape the root, as though language briefly tried to become a bodily noise. By the late fourteenth century, fart was also a noun, and sixteenth-century English could cheerfully produce compounds such as clatterfart for a loud or indiscreet person. So when someone says “fart” today, they are not using a childish invention; they are releasing a very old Indo-European echo, with several millennia of linguistic history packed behind one short burst.
The Story
Long before anyone worried about sounding polite, people were making noises that needed naming, and this one has carried its blunt little syllable across Europe for thousands of years. English fart goes back through Middle English ferten and Old English *feortan to Proto-Germanic *fertaną, ultimately linked to the reconstructed PIE root *perd-. That same ancient family includes Sanskrit pard, Greek perdein, Russian perdet, and Scandinavian forms such as Old Norse freta—a remarkably international vocabulary for something usually discussed in private. The word may even be imitative in origin: the sound itself seems to have helped shape the root, as though language briefly tried to become a bodily noise. By the late fourteenth century, fart was also a noun, and sixteenth-century English could cheerfully produce compounds such as clatterfart for a loud or indiscreet person. So when someone says “fart” today, they are not using a childish invention; they are releasing a very old Indo-European echo, with several millennia of linguistic history packed behind one short burst.
Modern Usage
A vulgar term for intestinal gas, often used humorously or insultingly
Kin & Kindred
From 'fart'·To expel intestinal gas; an instance of doing so
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary