Etymograph

English

intercalate

Intercalate comes from Latin intercalātus ‘intercalated’, from calō ‘to call, to place’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelh₁-‘to call out to’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kalō‘to call’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalō‘to call, to place’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercalō‘to proclaim that a day, an event, etc. has been intercalated’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercalātus‘intercalated’perfect passive participle of intercalō
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1828intercalate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelh₁-‘to call out to’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kalō‘to call’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalō‘to call, to place’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercalō‘to proclaim that a day, an event, etc. has been intercalated’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercalātus‘intercalated’perfect passive participle of intercalō
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1828intercalate

Earliest quotation: 1828, The British Critic, Quarterly Theological Review: “... the personal pronouns which form the terminations of…”

first attested The verb is first attested in 1614, the noun in 1964; borrowed from Latin intercalātus, perfect passive participle of intercalō (“to proclaim that a day, an event, etc (as stated in the etymology)

The story

The verb is first attested in 1614, the noun in 1964; borrowed from Latin intercalātus, perfect passive participle of intercalō (‘to proclaim that a day, an event, etc. has been intercalated; to insert’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from inter- (‘between, among’) + calō (‘to call; to proclaim’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- ‘to call out to’

low, clear, hell, claim, classic, calendar, declare, haul, claire, clarity, reconciliation, classify, proclamation, clarification, reclamation, exclamation, clarinet, clarion, squeal, claret, clamor, clamour, ecclesiastic, clas, ecclesial, 35 more

through Latin calō ‘to call, to place’

counsel, reconcile, irreconcilable, conciliar, 9 more

Today it means

verb To insert an extra leap day into a calendar in order to maintain synchrony with natural phenomena.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- / intercalate

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