Etymograph

English

elongate

Elongate comes from Late Latin ēlongātus ‘having been stretched out, elongated’, from Latin ēlongō ‘prolong, protract’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos ‘long’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰos‘long’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(d)longos‘long’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElongus‘far off, away’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlongō‘prolong, protract’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEēlongātus‘having been stretched out, elongated’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500elongat
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1646elongate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰos‘long’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(d)longos‘long’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElongus‘far off, away’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlongō‘prolong, protract’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEēlongātus‘having been stretched out, elongated’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500elongat
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1646elongate

Earliest quotation: 1646, Thomas Browne, Concerning the Loadstone: “[A]bout Capo Frio in Brasilia, the south point [of…”

The story

From Late Middle English elongat, elongate (“kept away; different or remote in nature”, adjective), borrowed from Late Latin ēlongātus (‘having been stretched out, elongated; prolonged, protracted; having been kept aloof, removed’) + Middle English -at (suffix forming participles). Ēlongātus is the perfect passive participle of ēlongō (‘to prolong, protract; to keep aloof, remove; to depart, withdraw’), from Latin ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + longus (‘extended, long, prolonged; far’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”, adjective)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos ‘long’

long, length, linger, 18 more

through Latin longus ‘far off, away’

longitudinal, longitude, lunge, oblong, longus, longe, 10 more

Today it means

adj Elongated, extended, lengthened; (especially biology) having a long and slender form.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos / elongate

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