kweit- / Indo-European roots

Examples of words with the root kweit-: bismuth, edelweiss, wheat, white, whiting, witloof.

kweit-

White; to shine.

Oldest form *k̑weit-, becoming *kweit- in centum languages.

1. Suffixed variant form *kweid-o-.

a. white; Whitsunday from Old English hwīt, white;

b. witloof from Middle Dutch wit, white;

c. whiting² from Middle Dutch wijting, whiting;

d. (i) edelweiss from Old High German hwīz, wīz, white; (ii) bismuth from obsolete German Bismuth, Wismuth, perhaps obscurely related to Old High German wīz, white. a-d all from Germanic *hwītaz..

2. Suffixed o-grade variant form *kwoid-yo-. wheat from Old English hwǣte, wheat (from the fine white flour it yields), from Germanic *hwaitjaz.

[Pokorny 3. k̑u̯ei- 628.]

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