English
apology
Apology comes from Ecclesiastical Latin apologia ‘a defense, apology’, from Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵosreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςlógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀπολογίαapología‘a speech in defence’
- Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500apologia‘a defense, apology’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentapologie
- Englishearliest quotation 1852apology
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵosreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςlógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀπολογίαapología‘a speech in defence’
- Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500apologia‘a defense, apology’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentapologie
- Englishearliest quotation 1852apology
Earliest quotation: 1852, – 1853 September, Charles Dickens: “[He] goes to work devising apologies for window curtains.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’
election, collection, lesson, select, technology, elite, eligible, collect, elect, elegant, legion, coil, negligence, catalogue, negligible, negligent, leach, diligent, lexicon, lexical, cull, epilogue, astrology, dialectic, legation, alexia, lignite, lexis, lignin, cosmology, gynecologist, ineligibility, dialogic, 152 more
through Proto-Hellenic *lógos
archaeological, pathological, astrological, homologous, etymology, pathophysiology, psychopathology, neurophysiology, bacteriological, histopathology, 103 more
through Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’
logic, trilogy, analogy, sociology, terminology, logos, physiology, pathology, monologue, logistic, archaeologist, pathologist, prologue, eulogy, epistemology, entomology, etiology, bacteriology, syllogism, bacteriologist, 112 more
Today it means
noun An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of apologizing (saying that one is sorry).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- / apology