Etymograph

English

ambassador

Ambassador comes from Middle English ambassadore, via Old Italian ambassadore from Old Occitan ambaisador ‘ambassador’, ultimately from Gaulish ambaxtos via Germanic *ambahtaz ‘servant’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂m̥bʰi-h₂eǵ-‘drive around’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*ambaxtosreconstructed
  3. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CEambaxtos
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ambahtaz‘servant’reconstructed
  5. Old Occitanc. 950–1500ambaissa‘service, mission, errand’
  6. Old Occitan, derivedc. 950–1500ambaisador‘ambassador’
  7. Old Italianmodernambassadore
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400ambassadeur
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ambassadore
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1856ambassador

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂m̥bʰi-h₂eǵ-‘drive around’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*ambaxtosreconstructed
  3. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CEambaxtos
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ambahtaz‘servant’reconstructed
  5. Old Occitanc. 950–1500ambaissa‘service, mission, errand’
  6. Old Occitan, derivedc. 950–1500ambaisador‘ambassador’
  7. Old Italianmodernambassadore
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400ambassadeur
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ambassadore
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1856ambassador

Earliest quotation: 1856, Mrs. William Busk, Mediæval Popes: “The new accusation brought by Urban against Manfred of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *ambahtaz ‘servant’

amt

Today it means

noun A diplomat of the highest rank sent to a foreign court to represent there their sovereign or country. (Sometimes called ambassador-in-residence)

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi-h₂eǵ- / ambassador

Shirt and support for this word