English
entrance
Entrance probably comes from Middle French entrance ‘entry’; it replaced native Middle English ingang.
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600entrance‘entry’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602entrance
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600entrance‘entry’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602entrance
Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Beware of entrance to a quarrel.”
The story
Replaced native Middle English ingang (‘entrance, admission’), from Old English ingang (‘ingress, entry, entrance’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’
in, internal, indigenous, intimate, encounter, impulse, ensemble, intern, intestine, incubation, incense, endo, impel, incubus, incubate, agog, interregnum, intimation, censer, 31 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁énteros ‘inside, within’
interior, introduce, intro, dysentery, enteral, 12 more
through Latin intrō
through Old French entrer ‘to enter’
Today it means
noun The action of entering, or going in.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle French entrance / entrance