Etymograph

English

eterne

Eterne comes from Old French eterne, from Latin aeternus ‘endless, eternal’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- ‘long time, lifetime’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eyu-‘long time, lifetime’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwom‘period, age’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaevum‘eternity, agelessness, timelessness’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternus‘endless, eternal’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eterne
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘Eternal, permanent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eyu-‘long time, lifetime’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwom‘period, age’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaevum‘eternity, agelessness, timelessness’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternus‘endless, eternal’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eterne
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘Eternal, permanent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590same form

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto VI: “The substance is eterne, and bideth so; / Ne…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- ‘long time, lifetime’

aye, ay, eon, aeon, 10 more

through Proto-Italic *aiwom ‘period, age’

age, 11 more

through Latin aevum ‘eternity, agelessness, timelessness’

longevity, eval, 8 more

Today it means

adj Eternal.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- / eterne

Shirt and support for this word