daughter
A female child in relation to her parents.
Etymology
From Old English dohtor, from Proto-Germanic *duhtēr, from PIE *dʰugh₂tḗr. This is one of the classic PIE kinship terms preserved across the entire family. The word's PIE etymology is debated — it may be connected to *dʰewgʰ- "to milk" (the daughter as the one who milks), though this is uncertain.
The Journey: *dʰugh₂tḗr → daughter
*dʰugh₂tḗr
*duhtēr
dohtor
doghter
daughter
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *dʰugh₂tḗr. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | thugátēr |
| Oscan | futír |
| Armenian | dustr |
| Sanskrit | duhitṛ́ |
| Lithuanian | duktė̃ |
| Tocharian B | tkācer |
| Old Church Slavonic | dŭšti |
Did You Know?
One disputed theory connects *dʰugh₂tḗr to *dʰewgʰ- "to milk," making "daughter" originally mean "the milkmaid." In early pastoralist PIE society, milking was a crucial daily task. Whether or not the etymology is correct, it illuminates how PIE kinship terms may have encoded household roles.
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰugh₂tḗr. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.