Etymology
1. O.E.
tæcan (past tense and pp.
tæhte) "to show, point out," also "to give instruction," from P.Gmc.
*taikijanan (cf. O.H.G.
zihan, Ger.
zeihen "to accuse," Goth.
ga-teihan "to announce"), from PIE
*deik- "to show, point out" (see diction). Related to O.E.
tacen, tacn "sign, mark" (see token). O.E.
tæcan had more usually a sense of "show, declare, warn, persuade" (cf. Ger.
zeigen "to show," from the same root); while the O.E. word for "to teach, instruct, guide" was more commonly
læran, source of modern learn and lore.
Teacher "one who teaches" emerged c.1300; it was used earlier in a sense of "index finger" (c.1290).
2. From Middle English techen, from Old English tǣċan (“to show, declare, demonstrate; teach, instruct, train; assign, prescribe, direct; warn; persuade”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikijan, from Proto-Germanic *taikijaną (“to show”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”).
3. Cognate with Scots tech, teich (“to teach”), German zeigen (“to show, point out”), zeihen (“accuse, blame”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (gateihan, “to announce, declare, tell, show, display”), Latin dīcō (“speak, say, tell”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “show, point out, explain, teach”), Sanskrit दिशति (diśati, “to point out, show, tell, teach”). More at token. See: Middle English '
techen', Proto-Germanic '
*taikijaną', German, old spelling '
zeigen', Latin '
dīcō', Greek, Ancient '
δείκνυμι', Sanskrit '
दिशति'.
Verbs referencing "teach"
German, old spelling
zeigen, Sanskrit
दिशति, Greek, Ancient
δείκνυμι, Cimbrian sògan.