English
belligerent
Belligerent comes from Latin belligerans ‘waging war’, from gerō ‘to lead, wage, carry on’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerō‘to lead, wage, carry on’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellum‘war’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbelliger‘waging war, warlike’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbelligerō‘to wage war’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbelligerans‘waging war’present active participle of belligerō
- Englishearliest quotation 1999belligerent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerō‘to lead, wage, carry on’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellum‘war’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbelliger‘waging war, warlike’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbelligerō‘to wage war’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbelligerans‘waging war’present active participle of belligerō
- Englishearliest quotation 1999belligerent
Earliest quotation: 1999, Jesse Helms, Associated Press: “And I think the facts are that Beijing is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-
act, action, active, activity, actual, strategy, actor, suggest, agency, agent, essay, agenda, activate, acre, agony, squat, ambiguous, agile, assay, ambiguity, agrarian, antagonist, agitation, agility, digestion, axiom, agonist, radium, actuator, antagonism, agitate, antagonize, actuation, digestible, glucagon, samaj, stratagem, cogent, inexact, agonize, 140 more
through Latin gerō ‘to lead, wage, carry on’
register, suggestion, gesture, congestion, digest, gestation, ingestion, progesterone, ingest, agger, gestion, gerund, 14 more
through Latin bellum ‘war’
Today it means
adj Engaged in warfare, warring.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / belligerent