English
colonus
Colonus comes from Latin colōnus ‘farmer, especially a kind of tenant farmer or…’, from colō ‘to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- ‘to turn’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelh₁-‘to turn’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷélh₁etireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷelō‘to inhabit’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolō‘to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care of a field or garden’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolōnus‘farmer, especially a kind of tenant farmer or sharecropper’
- Englishtodaycolonus
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelh₁-‘to turn’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷélh₁etireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷelō‘to inhabit’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolō‘to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care of a field or garden’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolōnus‘farmer, especially a kind of tenant farmer or sharecropper’
- Englishtodaycolonus
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *kʷelō ‘to inhabit’
agriculture, cultivation, cultivate, aquaculture, subculture, monoculture, 64 more
through Latin colō ‘to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care…’
Today it means
noun A sharecropping tenant farmer of the late Roman Empire and Early Middle Ages.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- / colonus