English
enhort
Enhort comes from Middle English enhorten ‘to exhort’, from Old French enorter ‘to encourage’, and ultimately from Latin hortor ‘to exhort’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhortor‘to exhort’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinhortor‘to incite, instigate’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400enorter‘to encourage’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500enhorten‘to exhort’
- Englishearliest quotation 1795enhort
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhortor‘to exhort’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinhortor‘to incite, instigate’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400enorter‘to encourage’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500enhorten‘to exhort’
- Englishearliest quotation 1795enhort
Earliest quotation: 1795, Johann David Michaelis, Literarischer Briefwechsel - Volume 2: “I have nothing more to add at present, but…”
Proto-Indo-European *yewg- ‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’
…
Latin iungō ‘to join, unite, fasten, yoke, harness, attach’
Latin iniungo ‘to attach’
Old French enjoindre ‘to join with’
Middle English enjoinen
English enjoin
Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- ‘to yearn for’
Latin hortor ‘to incite, spur’
Latin exhortārī ‘to encourage’
Old French exhorter
Middle English exorten
English exhort
The story
Early uses are a survival of Middle English enhorten, from Old French enorter, from Latin inhortor. The verb fell out of use during the 19th century and was formed anew in the last few decades of the 20th century as a blend of enjoin + exhort or a similar formation.
Linked words
through Latin hortor ‘to exhort’
Today it means
verb To encourage, to insist upon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin hortor / enhort