English
excuse
Excuse comes from Old French escuser ‘to excuse oneself’, and goes back to Latin excūsō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcūsō‘to excuse’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400escuser‘to excuse oneself’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excusen
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512excuse
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcūsō‘to excuse’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400escuser‘to excuse oneself’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excusen
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512excuse
Earliest quotation: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “They cannot be excusyd By reason nor by law;…”
A compound of ex ‘out’ + causa ‘a charge’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs ‘out’
Proto-Italic *eks
Latin ex ‘out’
Proto-Italic *kaussā
Old Latin caussa
Latin causa ‘a charge’
The story
From Middle English excusen (verb) and excuse (noun), borrowed from Old French escuser (verb) and excuse (noun), from Latin excūsō, excūsāre (‘to excuse, allege in excuse, literally, free from a charge’), from ex (‘out’) + causa (‘a charge’); see cause, accuse and recuse.
Linked words
through Latin excūsō ‘to excuse, allege in excuse, literally, free…’
Today it means
verb To forgive; to pardon; to overlook.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin excūsō / excuse