English
clandestine
Clandestine comes from Latin clandestīnus ‘secret, concealed’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclandestīnus‘secret, concealed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1793clandestine
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclandestīnus‘secret, concealed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1793clandestine
Earliest quotation: 1793, Charlotte Smith: “Monimia, who while she yielded to his earnest entreaties…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-
hell, color, cell, hall, hole, hull, holder, ceiling, helmet, hollow, halt, helm, conceal, uphold, holden, occult, sari, cilia, sala, tricolour, haugh, seel, holing, recline, declension, halberd, hele, declination, 37 more
Today it means
adj Done or kept in secret, sometimes to conceal an illicit or improper purpose.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- / clandestine