Etymograph

English

penetrate

Penetrate comes from Latin penētrō ‘to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pen-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pen-next step skipped: Latin penes
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpenētrō‘to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce, penetrate’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpenētrātusperfect passive participle of penētrō
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611penetrate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pen-next step skipped: Latin penes
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpenētrō‘to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce, penetrate’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpenētrātusperfect passive participle of penētrō
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611penetrate

Earliest quotation: 1611, The Tragedie of Cymbeline: “I am advised to give her music o' mornings;…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pen-

fen, 2 more

through Latin penētrō ‘to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce,…’

impenetrable, 4 more

Today it means

verb To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to pierce.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pen- / penetrate

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