Etymograph

English

interest

Interest comes from Old French interesse, from Medieval Latin interesse, from Latin intersum ‘to be between, concern’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- ‘to be’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁es-‘to be’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsum‘to be’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintersum‘to be between; to concern’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500intersum‘to concern’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400interesse
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500interest
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597interest

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁es-‘to be’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsum‘to be’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintersum‘to be between; to concern’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500intersum‘to concern’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400interesse
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500interest
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597interest

Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “You shall have your desires with interest”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- ‘to be’

is, am, potential, sin, soothe, sinful, swastika, sooth, asana, sinless, quintessence, 11 more

Today it means

noun The price paid for obtaining, or price received for providing, money or goods in a credit transaction, calculated as a fraction of the amount or value of what was borrowed.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- / interest

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