Etymograph

English

fugacious

Fugacious comes from Latin fugāciter ‘evasively, fleetingly’, from fugiō ‘to flee’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewg-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fugjō‘to flee’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugiō‘to flee’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugāx‘transitory, fleeting’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugāciter‘evasively, fleetingly’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugāciuscomparative of fugāciter
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1906fugacious

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewg-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fugjō‘to flee’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugiō‘to flee’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugāx‘transitory, fleeting’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugāciter‘evasively, fleetingly’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugāciuscomparative of fugāciter
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1906fugacious

Earliest quotation: 1906, O. Henry pseudonym; William Sydney Porte, The Furnished Room: “Restless, shifting, fugacious as time itself is a certain…”

Formed from -acious

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg-

function, fungi, defunct, perfunctory, 15 more

through Latin fugiō ‘to flee’

refugee, refuge, fugitive, fugue, 7 more

Today it means

adj Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- / fugacious

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