Etymograph

English

case

Case comes from Old French cas ‘an event’, from Latin cāsus ‘a fall; accident, chance’, from cadō ‘to fall’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d- ‘to fall’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱh₂d-‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱád-e-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadō‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadō‘to fall’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcāsus‘a fall; accident, chance’perfect passive participle of cadō
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cas‘an event’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cas
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1586case

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱh₂d-‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱád-e-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadō‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadō‘to fall’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcāsus‘a fall; accident, chance’perfect passive participle of cadō
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cas‘an event’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cas
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1586case

Earliest quotation: 1586, William Warner, The Fourth Booke. Chapter XXXVI.: “Thus vvhilſt he hopt he hild her leaſt, ſo…”

Linked words

through Latin cadō ‘to fall, to drop’

chance, accident, incident, cheat, occasion, incidence, coincide, decay, casualty, deciduous, occidental, cadence, decadent, recidivism, cadaver, occident, 15 more

through Latin cāsus ‘a falling, a fall’

casual, 2 more

Another origin of case

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjō‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*kapsosreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsa‘a box, case, holder, repository’
  6. Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400casse‘Old Norman form of chasse’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500case‘box, chest, casket, case’
  8. Englishtodaycase

Today it means

noun An actual event, situation, or fact.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d- / case

Shirt and support for this word