Etymograph

English

insidious

Insidious comes from Latin īnsidiōsus ‘cunning, artful, deceitful’, from īnsidiae ‘a lying in wait, an ambush, artifice, stratagem’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-éh₁-ye-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēō‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō‘to sit’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsideō‘to sit in or on’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsidiae‘a lying in wait, an ambush, artifice, stratagem’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsidiōsus‘cunning, artful, deceitful’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600insidieux
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1841insidious

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-éh₁-ye-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēō‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō‘to sit’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsideō‘to sit in or on’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsidiae‘a lying in wait, an ambush, artifice, stratagem’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsidiōsus‘cunning, artful, deceitful’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600insidieux
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1841insidious

Earliest quotation: 1841, –November, Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 48.: “Gashford slid his cold insidious palm into his master's…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

set, sell, seat, method, chair, sit, sitting, settle, nest, possess, niche, saddle, exodus, nye, subsidy, beset, prasad, cathode, soot, setter, anode, chaise, sate, ersatz, salo, besiege, polyhedron, nias, nidal, 80 more

through Proto-Italic *sedēō ‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’

possession, obsession, assessor, presidente, assize, 23 more

through Latin sedeō ‘to sit’

president, size, session, assess, resident, siege, sedan, reside, sediment, residual, residue, sedentary, possessive, sedative, obsess, sedate, dissident, seance, séance, sessile, presidium, presidio, 27 more

Today it means

adj Causing harm in a stealthy, often gradual, manner.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / insidious

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