Eat
/iːt/noun
To consume food by putting it into the mouth and swallowing it.
Did you know?“Eat” goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed-/*ed-, the same ancestral root behind Latin edere and Greek edein, all tied to the primal act of consuming food.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₁ed- / *ed-
“to eat, consume”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*etaną
“to eat”
Old English
OE
etan
“to eat, devour”
Middle English
ME
eten
“to eat”
Modern English
English
eat
“to consume food”
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