English
argent
Argent comes from Old French argent ‘silver’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- ‘white, argent, glittering’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂erǵ-‘white, argent, glittering’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ŕ̥ǵn̥tom‘silver’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*argentom‘silver’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEargentum‘white money, silver’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400argent‘silver’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500argent
- Englishearliest quotation 1733argent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂erǵ-‘white, argent, glittering’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ŕ̥ǵn̥tom‘silver’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*argentom‘silver’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEargentum‘white money, silver’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400argent‘silver’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500argent
- Englishearliest quotation 1733argent
Earliest quotation: 1733, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man. […]: “Or ask of yonder argent fields above, / Why…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- ‘white, argent, glittering’
Today it means
noun The metal silver.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- / argent