Etymology
1. "pull with a rope," O.E.
togian "to drag, pull," from P.Gmc.
*tugojanan (cf. O.E.
teon "to draw," O.Fris.
togia "to pull about," O.N.
toga, O.H.G.
zogon, Ger.
ziehen "to draw, pull, drag"), from PIE base
*deuk- "to pull, draw" (cf. L.
ducere "to lead;" see duke). The noun meaning "act or fact of being towed" is recorded from 1622.
Towaway, in ref. to parking zones, is recorded from 1956.
2. From Middle English towen, from Old English togian (“to tow”), from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną (“to draw, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull; to lead”).
3. Cognates
4. Cognate with German zögern (“to hesitate, pause”), Faroese and Icelandic toga (“to pull”), French touer (“to tow, tug a ship”); also Welsh dwyn (“to steal; to take; to bring to”), Latin dūcō (“to conduct, guide, lead; to take; to draw, pull; to consider, think; to prolong; to march; to forge”), Ancient Greek δαδύσσομαι (dadússomai, “to be distracted”), Albanian nduk (“to pluck out, pull out, tear”), Central Kurdish دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Northern Kurdish dotin, doşîn, دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Ossetian ду́цын (dúcyn, “to milk”), Pashto لوشل (lwašal, “to milk; to extort”), Persian دوشیدن (dōšīdan / dušidan), دوشتن (duštan), دوختن (dōxtan / duxtan, “to milk”). Related to tug. See: Old English '
togian', Proto-Germanic '
*tugōną', German, old spelling '
zögern', French '
touer', Welsh '
dwyn', Latin '
dūcō'.
Verbs referencing "tow"
Faroese
toga, Icelandic
toga, Latin
duco, Norwegian
taue, French
touer, Welsh
towio.