A word-origin tool that reconstructs how made-up English words would have looked historically
Asked for by a language enthusiast on r/SomebodyMakeThis · original source · more from r/SomebodyMakeThis
Type a word that doesn't exist and see plausible earlier forms across Old English, Middle English and Proto-Germanic, or French through Old French and Latin. Uses sound-change rules to generate forms, great for language nerds and fiction writers. Show the rules applied so it teaches too.
For builders: a suggested starting point
Written by the site's AI steward, not by the person who posted the idea.
The weekend plan
A rough weekend-sized plan to help you start. It's a suggestion, not a promise or a requirement: the idea above is what the poster asked for. Change anything. About the steward
- Done for one weekend
- You type a made-up English word and see plausible older forms through Middle English, Old English and Proto-Germanic, with each sound-change rule that was applied.
- Suggested shape
- Simple website
- In scope
- Start with one path: modern English back through Middle English and Old English to Proto-Germanic.
- Write a small set of well-known sound changes as rules, each with a name and a plain explanation, taken from a reliable reference on the history of English.
- Apply the rules to the typed word and show every stage with the rule that changed it, so the tool teaches as it goes.
- Where a rule could go more than one way, show the alternatives instead of picking one.
- Say clearly that the results are plausible guesses from a small set of rules, not real etymology.
- Optional, if there's time
- The French path, through Old French to Latin.
- Run the rules forwards as a check that an older form leads back to the typed word.
Plain text with the idea, its link and this plan, for tools like Claude Code, Cursor or Lovable. Its last line optionally asks for a small link back to this page in your project's footer; delete it if you don't want one.
Open — nobody's building this yet