Etymograph

English

captivity

Captivity comes from Latin captīvitās ‘captivity, bondage’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kap-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptīvus‘a captive, a prisoner’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptīvitās‘captivity, bondage’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500captivite‘captivity or imprisonment’
  5. Englishtodaycaptivity

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptīvus‘a captive, a prisoner’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptīvitās‘captivity, bondage’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500captivite‘captivity or imprisonment’
  5. Englishtodaycaptivity

Equivalent to captive + -ity

Middle English captif ‘a captive or hostage’

English captive

The story

Entered into the English lexicon around the 14th century.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap-

had, head, case, heavy, except, cash, receive, catch, accept, achieve, behavior, capital, chase, captain, heavily, cable, chapter, escape, capable, chef, recipe, haven, capacity, occupation, behave, cattle, recipient, reception, cabin, capture, perception, cape, chapel, hawk, anticipation, anticipate, chassis, capitol, susceptible, precipitation, 177 more

Today it means

noun The state of being captive.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kap- / captivity

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