Etymograph

English

precious

Precious comes from Latin pretiōsus ‘of great value, costly, dear, precious’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘in front’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-‘in front’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr-é-ti ~ *pr-ó-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pretjomreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpretium‘value, price’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpretiōsus‘of great value, costly, dear, precious’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500precious
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1839same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-‘in front’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr-é-ti ~ *pr-ó-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pretjomreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpretium‘value, price’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpretiōsus‘of great value, costly, dear, precious’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500precious
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1839same form

Earliest quotation: 1839, Charles Dickens: “It’s all owing to your precious caution that they…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘in front’

first, before, support, far, per, further, report, private, fear, opportunity, practice, port, press, primary, prime, afford, ford, pre, prior, forth, practical, pregnant, parade, par, appreciate, privilege, ferry, pirate, interpretation, porch, pardon, fare, primitive, peril, afar, pragmatic, petra, disparate, privy, prism, 152 more

through Proto-Italic *pretjom

appraise

through Latin pretium ‘value, price’

price, prize, praise, prix, depreciation, 1 more

Today it means

adj Of high value or worth.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *per- / precious

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