Etymology
1. O.E.
ascian "ask," from earlier
ahsian, from P.Gmc.
*aiskojan (cf. O.S.
escon, O.Fris.
askia, M.Du.
eiscen, O.H.G.
eiscon, Ger.
heischen "to ask, demand"), from PIE
*ais- "to wish, desire" (cf. Skt.
icchati "seeks, desires," Arm.
aic "investigation," O.C.S.
iskati "to seek," Lith.
ieskau "to seek"). Form in Eng. infl. by a Scand. form of the word (cf. Dan.
æske; the O.E. would have evolved by normal sound changes into
ash, esh, which was a Midlands and s.w. England dialect form). The variant in modern dialect
ax is as old as O.E.
acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c.1600. O.E. also had
fregnan, frignan which carried more directly the sense of "question, inquire," and is from PIE root
*prek-, the common source of words for "ask" in most I.E. languages.
If you ask me "in my opinion" is attested from 1910.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *h₂eys-
4. Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti
5. Proto-Indo-European *h₂isḱéti
6. Proto-Germanic *iskaną
7. Proto-Germanic *aiskaz
8. Proto-West Germanic *aisk
9. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
10. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
11. Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
12. Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
13. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti
14. Proto-Germanic *-ōną
15. Proto-West Germanic *-ōn
16. Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn
17. Old English āscian
18. Middle English asken
19. English ask
20. From Middle English asken, axen, from Old English āscian, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eys- (“to wish; request”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian aaskje (“to ask, demand, require”), West Frisian easkje (“to ask, demand, require”), Dutch eisen (“to demand, require”), German heischen (“to ask, request, implore”), Russian иска́ть (iskátʹ), Sanskrit इच्छति (iccháti) (whence Hindi ईछना (īchnā). See: Middle English '
asken', Frisian, Saterlandic 'aaskje', Dutch '
eisen', German, old spelling '
heischen', Russian '
иска́ть', Sanskrit '
इच्छति', Hindi '
ईछना'.
Verbs referencing "ask"
Russian
искать, Proto-Slavic
jьskati, Swedish
äska.