Sand?

[erobins12]

A friend and I are having a serious debate on the word “sand” and how it came to be. I’ve done plenty of research- but cannot find much except it came from the German “zand.” Can anyone please help me out?

[BonnieL]

It goes way back. Here's one explanation: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuesti ... _sea_land/

The writer left out the Latin sabulum, from the Greek.

This has a longer list: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sand

[Bobinwales]

But, isn't the German word for "sand"... "Sand"?

[Erik_Kowal]

But, isn't the German word for "sand"... "Sand"?

Yes.

It's possible that erobins12 has mixed up "deutsch" and "Dutch". The Dutch word for sand is zand, but as you rightly point out, Bob, in German it is sand.

[erobins12]

In old German, it was "Zand." The further back you, the more it changes, of course. I am just curious to know on why "sand" is called sand... Does it have something to do with deserts? the sea and the land?

[Erik_Kowal]

The Wiktionary etymology traces it back to Proto-Indo-European *sámh₂dʰos. That is so far back that it is likely to be impossible to resolve the ultimate origin any further (if there is one).