Etymograph

English

infest

Infest comes from Old French infester ‘to infest’, from Latin īnfestō ‘assail, molest’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- ‘to strike, slay, kill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰen-‘to strike, slay, kill’root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfestus‘hostile’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfestō‘assail, molest’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400infester‘to infest’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500infesten
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1567infest

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰen-‘to strike, slay, kill’root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfestus‘hostile’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfestō‘assail, molest’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400infester‘to infest’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500infesten
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1567infest

Earliest quotation: 1567, Ovid, The Fourth Booke: “[…] The swarme of scaled snakes Did make an…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- ‘to strike, slay, kill’

offensive, defend, offense, fence, offend, bane, fend, 5 more

Today it means

verb To inhabit a place in unpleasantly large numbers; to plague, harass.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- / infest

Shirt and support for this word