English
impregnable
Impregnable comes from Old French imprenable, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to find’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-‘to find’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400imprenable
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500imprenable
- Englishearliest quotation 1664impregnable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-‘to find’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400imprenable
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500imprenable
- Englishearliest quotation 1664impregnable
Earliest quotation: 1664, ; first published 1694, A Sermon Preached before the University, at Christ-Church, O: “[A]s for the Friendſhip of the World; […] he…”
The story
Prendre is derived from Latin prēndere, present active infinitive of prēndō, a variant of prehendō (‘to catch, lay hold of; to grasp; to grab, snatch; to seize, take’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (‘to find; to hold; to seize, take’). The intrusive g in the English word was modelled after words like deign and reign.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to find’
yet, guess, prison, surprise, prize, comprehensive, prey, apprentice, predator, comprise, comprehend, comprehension, apprehension, apprehensive, apprehend, predation, reprieve, reprehensible, beget, impresario, prehensile, 32 more
Today it means
adj Of a fortress or other fortified place: able to withstand all attacks; impenetrable, inconquerable, unvanquishable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- / impregnable