English
accelerate
Accelerate may come from Latin accelerātus ‘quickened, hastened, accelerated, having been…’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccelerātus‘quickened, hastened, accelerated, having been accelerated’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1662accelerate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccelerātus‘quickened, hastened, accelerated, having been accelerated’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1662accelerate
Earliest quotation: 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: “... a general knowledg of the definition of motion,…”
first attested First attested in the 1520s (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in the 1520s. Either from Latin accelerātus, perfect passive participle of accelerō (‘to accelerate, hasten’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), formed from ad + celerō (‘to hasten’), which is from celer (‘quick’) (see celerity), or back-formation from acceleration.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kel- ‘to drive, particularly of animals’
Today it means
verb To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin accelerātus / accelerate