English
gender
Gender comes from Middle English gendre ‘kind, class’, from Old French gendre ‘type, kind’, from Latin genus ‘birth, kind’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to beget’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os‘race’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*genosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenusas genere‘birth, origin; kind, type’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gendre‘type, kind’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gendre‘type’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604gender
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os‘race’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*genosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenusas genere‘birth, origin; kind, type’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gendre‘type, kind’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gendre‘type’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604gender
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “[…]plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, beget’
king, kind, nature, nation, native, engine, pregnant, german, genuine, genetic, ken, genius, naive, gentle, kin, indigenous, noel, innate, genesis, natal, nee, nativity, nada, naïve, genital, genealogy, ingenious, janata, nascent, puny, degenerate, regenerate, cognate, germ, gentile, degeneration, jaunty, gens, azadi, genial, 98 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os ‘race’
oxygen, gene, hydrogen, genocide, glycogen, estrogenic, 24 more
through Proto-Italic *genos
through Latin genus ‘type, kind’
general, generation, genuinely, genre, generate, generous, generic, genus, generosity, generative, 12 more
Another origin of gender
- Indonesianmoderngender
- Englishtodaygender
Today it means
noun Class; kind.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / gender