English
hesitant
Hesitant comes from Latin haesitāns ‘hesitating, uncertain’, and goes back to haereō ‘to stick, stick fast’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaereō‘to stick, stick fast’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitō‘to hesitate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitāns‘hesitating, uncertain’
- Englishtodayhesitant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaereō‘to stick, stick fast’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitō‘to hesitate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitāns‘hesitating, uncertain’
- Englishtodayhesitant
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰays- ‘to adhere, to stick, to be fixed’
through Latin haereō ‘to stick, stick fast’
adhere, coherent, coherence, adhesive, cohesion, adhesion, coherency, 26 more
Today it means
adj Tending to hesitate, wait, or proceed with caution or reservation.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin haereō / hesitant