Etymograph

English

fugue

Fugue comes from French fugue, from Italian fuga ‘flight, ardor’, 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 CEfuga‘act of fleeing’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentsame form‘flight, ardor’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentfugue
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1981same form

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 CEfuga‘act of fleeing’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentsame form‘flight, ardor’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentfugue
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1981same form

Earliest quotation: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology: “Jacobsen's theory about the empty storehouse is still valid,…”

The story

Apparently from the metaphor that the first part starts alone on its course, and is pursued by later parts.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg-

function, fungi, defunct, perfunctory, 16 more

through Latin fugiō ‘to flee’

refugee, refuge, fugitive, 8 more

Today it means

noun A contrapuntal piece of music wherein a particular melody is played in a number of voices, each voice introduced in turn by playing the melody.

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

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

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