English
imago
Imago comes from Latin imāgō ‘image, imitation, likeness, statue,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eym-‘to imitate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimāgō‘image, imitation, likeness, statue, representation’
- Englishearliest quotation 1973imago
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eym-‘to imitate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimāgō‘image, imitation, likeness, statue, representation’
- Englishearliest quotation 1973imago
Earliest quotation: 1973, Patrick O'Brian: “‘But still,’ he said to himself, drawing the metamorphoses…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym- ‘to imitate’
emulate, imitation, imitate, emulation, imagines, imitator, 5 more
through Latin imāgō ‘image, imitation, likeness, statue,…’
Today it means
noun The final developmental stage of an insect after undergoing metamorphosis.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym- / imago