Etymograph

English

litigate

Litigate comes from Latin lītigātus ‘disputed, quarrelled over, having been disputed’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *slíHtis.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*slíHtisreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*slītisreconstructed
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEstlīs
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElis‘a quarrel’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElītigō‘dispute, litigate’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElītigātus‘disputed, quarrelled over, having been disputed’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1988litigate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*slíHtisreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*slītisreconstructed
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEstlīs
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElis‘a quarrel’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElītigō‘dispute, litigate’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElītigātus‘disputed, quarrelled over, having been disputed’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1988litigate

Earliest quotation: 1988, Don't Worry, Be Happy: “Ain't got no place to lay your head /…”

first attested First attested in 1606 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1606; borrowed from Latin lītigātus, perfect passive participle of lītigō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from līs (“a lawsuit”, oblique stem in līt-) + -igō (denominative verb-forming suffix).

Linked words

through Latin lis ‘a quarrel’

lis, 2 more

Today it means

verb To go to law; to carry on a lawsuit.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *slíHtis / litigate

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