Etymograph

English

Pacific

Pacific comes from Latin pācificus ‘peace-making’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, to attach’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, to attach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂ḱ-s‘peace’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāks‘peace’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāx‘peace’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpācificus‘peace-making’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1942Pacific

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, to attach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂ḱ-s‘peace’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāks‘peace’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāx‘peace’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpācificus‘peace-making’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1942Pacific

Earliest quotation: 1942, 1942 October 22, Endurance, conscientiousness: “When our last plenary session was held in November…”

The story

From Latin pācificus (‘peace-making’), so called by Magellan because he sailed peacefully over it after weathering Cape Horn.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, to attach’

fair, fang, fay, pact, gaffe, 10 more

through Latin pāx ‘peace’

peace, pace, repay, pax, pogue, 7 more

Today it means

name The Pacific Ocean.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- / Pacific

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