Etymograph

English

queue

Queue comes from Anglo-Norman queue, from Latin cauda ‘tail’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kaudā.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaudā‘tail’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcauda‘tail’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEcōda
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400queue
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500queue
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1820queue

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaudā‘tail’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcauda‘tail’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEcōda
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400queue
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500queue
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1820queue

Earliest quotation: 1820, Washington Irving: “The sons, in short square skirted coats with rows…”

Linked words

through Latin cauda ‘tail’

caudal, coda, 8 more

through Vulgar Latin cōda

cola, cue

Today it means

noun A line of people, vehicles or other objects, usually one to be dealt with in sequence (i.e., the one at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is dealt with next, and so on), and which newcomers join at the opposite end (the back).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kaudā / queue

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