Etymograph

English

latent

Latent comes from Latin lateō ‘lie hidden’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- ‘to bark, howl’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₂-‘to bark, howl’root as named
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*latos‘hidden’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElateō‘lie hidden’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElatēnspresent participle of lateō
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400latent
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1975same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₂-‘to bark, howl’root as named
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*latos‘hidden’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElateō‘lie hidden’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElatēnspresent participle of lateō
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400latent
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1975same form

Earliest quotation: 1975, Rudolph J. Rummel, Understanding Conflict and War: “These kinds of latents define the invariant dispositional properties…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- ‘to bark, howl’

loom, lull, lethargic, lament, loll, lethe, laika, alastor, 16 more

Today it means

adj Existing or present, but concealed or inactive.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- / latent

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