Ebb
/ɛb/noun
To recede or flow back, especially of the tide; also, a gradual decline.
Did you know?“Ebb” is an old Germanic word tied to the sea’s retreat, and its opposite, “flow,” helps preserve one of English’s oldest natural motion pairings.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
ebba
“the ebbing of the tide; a falling away”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*abjō / *ebjō
“a receding or going back”
Old Saxon / Old High German
Germanic
ebbi / ebi
“ebb, tide going out”
Middle English
English
ebbe
“the receding tide; decline”
Modern English
English
ebb
“to recede; to gradually diminish”