Etymograph

English

inundate

Inundate comes from Latin inundātus ‘overflowed’, from undō ‘to surge, flow’, and ultimately from unda ‘water(s)’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunda‘water(s)’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEundō‘to surge, flow’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinundō‘to flood, overflow’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinundātus‘overflowed’perfect passive participle of inundō
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1852inundate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunda‘water(s)’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEundō‘to surge, flow’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinundō‘to flood, overflow’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinundātus‘overflowed’perfect passive participle of inundō
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1852inundate

Earliest quotation: 1852, The New Monthly Magazine: “I don't know any quarter in England where you…”

first attested First attested in 1623 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin inundātus, the perfect passive participle of inundō (‘to flood, overflow’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from in- + undō (‘to overflow, wave’), from unda (‘wave’) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’

water, wet, wash, vodka, hydro, otter, vitriol, hydrate, hydride, vitreous, aldehyde, vedra, 44 more

through Latin unda ‘water(s)’

und, undine, 10 more

through Latin undō ‘to surge, flow’

surround, abundance, abundant, redundant, undated, 4 more

Today it means

verb To cover with large amounts of water; to flood.

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

Etymograph / Latin unda / inundate

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