Etymograph

English

caudal

Caudal comes from Latin caudālis ‘having a tail’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *keh₂w-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂w-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂udeh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaudā‘tail’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcauda‘tail’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaudālis‘having a tail’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1871caudal

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂w-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂udeh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaudā‘tail’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcauda‘tail’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaudālis‘having a tail’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1871caudal

Earliest quotation: 1871, Charles Darwin, Principles of Sexual Selection: “The male widow-bird, remarkable for his caudal plumes, […]”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *keh₂w-

holocaust, caustic, 4 more

through Latin cauda ‘tail’

queue, cue, cola, coda, 8 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to the tail or posterior or hind part of a body.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keh₂w- / caudal

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