English
prehensile
Prehensile comes from Latin prehēnsus ‘seized, grasped, grabbed, taken, caught’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰed-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-‘to seize’next step skipped: Latin prehendō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprehēnsus‘seized, grasped, grabbed, taken, caught’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpréhensile
- Englishtodayprehensile
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-‘to seize’next step skipped: Latin prehendō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprehēnsus‘seized, grasped, grabbed, taken, caught’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpréhensile
- Englishtodayprehensile
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to seize’
yet, guess, prison, surprise, prize, prey, comprehensive, comprise, predator, apprentice, comprehend, comprehension, predation, reprieve, beget, apprehend, impresario, impregnable, apprehension, apprehensive, reprehensible, 32 more
Today it means
adj Able to take hold of and clasp objects; adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- / prehensile