The history of the word wheel dates back to the 800s, where it was originally spelled as hweol. By the 1400s, the spelling evolved to drop the o and include a wh- at the beginning. Although the pronunciation initially featured a soft w sound, it eventually transitioned to the modern pronunciation we use today. The word originates from Proto-Germanic hwehla, which can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European kwel meaning “revolve.” This transformation is evident through Grimm’s Law, where the kw in PIE transformed into a hw sound in Proto-Germanic. In contrast, the word remained consistent in other language families like Latin, leading to descendants such as collar and colony with hard k sounds. The verb form of wheel emerged in the 1200s and gained popularity, peaking in usage in 1906.
