high
Extending far upward; of great vertical extent.
Etymology
Modern English high comes from Old English hēah "tall, lofty, exalted," from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz, from PIE *ḱew-d- (an extended form of *ḱew- "to swell, to be strong"). The semantic path runs from "swelling upward" to "high." The same base root *ḱew- produced Latin cumulus "heap" (English cumulus), Greek kŷma "wave, swelling" (English cyma), and Latin cavus "hollow" (a swelling outward, giving English cave and cavity). Gothic hauhs, German hoch, Dutch hoog, and Old Norse hár all derive from the same Germanic form. Within English, the word height is a derivative (Old English hēahþu), and the phrase "high and mighty" dates to the 14th century. The surname Haugh and place names like Howe derive from the same root. The connection between swelling and height is intuitive — what rises is what swells upward.
The Journey: *ḱew-d- → high
*ḱew-d-
*hauhaz
hēah
heigh, high
high
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *ḱew-d-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Gothic | hauhs | high |
| German | hoch | high |
| Latin | cumulus | heap |
| Greek | kŷma | wave, swelling |
| Old Norse | hár | high |
Did You Know?
The silent -gh in high is a fossil. In Old English, hēah was pronounced with a guttural sound (like Scottish loch). When that sound disappeared from standard English pronunciation, the spelling remained — a ghost of how the word sounded a thousand years ago.