English
font
Font comes from Latin fons ‘fountain’, from Proto-Italic *fontis ‘spring, well’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂- ‘to flow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰenh₂-‘to flow’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fontis‘spring, well’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfonsas fōns‘fountain’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150font
- Englishearliest quotation 1791font
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰenh₂-‘to flow’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fontis‘spring, well’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfonsas fōns‘fountain’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150font
- Englishearliest quotation 1791font
Earliest quotation: 1791, Christopher Smart, Moderation: “Blessed be God, that, at the font, / My…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂- ‘to flow’
through Latin fons ‘fountain’
Another origin of font
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-‘to pour’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fonte‘act or process of founding or melting’
- Englishtodayfont
Today it means
noun A receptacle in a church for holy water, especially one used in baptism.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂- / font