Etymograph

English

fat

Fat comes from Middle English fat ‘fattened, fatted’, from Proto-West Germanic *faitijan ‘to make fat’, and ultimately from *fait.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faitreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*faitijan‘to make fat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*faitid‘fatted’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fǣtt‘fatted’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fat‘fattened’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faitreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*faitijan‘to make fat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*faitid‘fatted’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fǣtt‘fatted’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fat‘fattened’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Make the heart of this people fat,[…]”

Linked words

through Old English fǣtt ‘fatted, fat’

fatness

through Middle English fat ‘fattened, fatted’

vat

Another origin of fat

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*faitąreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fait‘fat (substance)’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fǣt
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fat‘vessel’
  5. Englishtodaysame form

From Middle English fat, fatt, fatte, from the adjective above, and possibly from Old English fǣt (“fat”, recorded once), from Proto-West Germanic *fait, from Proto-Germanic *faitą, *faitaz (‘fat’).

Another origin of fat

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fātusreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfatuus‘foolish, silly, simple, stupid’
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500fat
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘conceited person’
  5. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

adj Carrying more fat than usual on one's body; plump; not lean or thin.

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

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *fait / fat

Shirt and support for this word