English
promulgate
Promulgate comes from Latin prōmulgātus ‘published, promulgated’, and goes back to prōmulgō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōmulgō‘to make known, publish’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōmulgātus‘published, promulgated’perfect passive participle of prōmulgō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500promulgaten
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604promulgate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōmulgō‘to make known, publish’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōmulgātus‘published, promulgated’perfect passive participle of prōmulgō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500promulgaten
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604promulgate
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “’Tis yet to know, / Which when I know,…”
A compound of pro ‘forth’ + vulgō ‘to publish’
Proto-Indo-European *pró ‘toward’
Proto-Italic *prō ‘for’
Latin pro ‘forth’
Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to throng, crowd’
Proto-Italic *wolgos
Latin vulgus ‘the public’
Latin vulgō ‘to publish’
The story
Inherited from Middle English promulgaten, from Latin prōmulgātus, perfect passive participle of prōmulgō (‘to make known, publish’), either from provulgō (‘to make known, publish’), from pro (‘forth’) + vulgō (‘to publish’), or from mulgeō (“to bring forth”, literally “to milk”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Every English word from Latin prōmulgō
Today it means
verb To make known or make public.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin prōmulgō / promulgate