Etymograph

English

cure

Cure comes from Old French cure ‘care, cure, healing, cure of souls’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- ‘to heed’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-‘to heed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷoizā‘care’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcura‘care, medical attendance, cure’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cure‘care, cure, healing, cure of souls’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-‘to heed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷoizā‘care’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcura‘care, medical attendance, cure’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cure‘care, cure, healing, cure of souls’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “This worke devysed is For suche as do amys,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- ‘to heed’

shire, curate, 6 more

through Proto-Italic *kʷoizā ‘care’

ensure, assure, insure, procurator, 6 more

through Latin cura ‘care, medical attendance, cure’

sure, security, proxy, procurement, curator, sicker, incurable, curation, 11 more

Another origin of cure

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcuroas cūrāre‘to arrange, see to, attend to, take care of, look after, ensure, tend to’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400curer‘to treat, to care (for), to heal’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500curen
  4. Englishtodaycure

Partially displaced Old English ġehǣlan, whence Modern English heal.

Today it means

noun A method, device or medication that restores good health.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- / cure

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