English
sanity
Sanity comes from Latin sānitās ‘health, soundness of body, healing’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- ‘to satisfy’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂-‘to satisfy’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂-no-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sānos‘healthy’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānus‘healthy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānitās‘health, soundness of body, healing’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sanité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sanite
- Englishearliest quotation 2026sanity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂-‘to satisfy’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂-no-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sānos‘healthy’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānus‘healthy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānitās‘health, soundness of body, healing’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sanité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sanite
- Englishearliest quotation 2026sanity
Earliest quotation: 2026, Robert Tait, Trump may be using Nixon’s ‘madman theory’ – and similar inf: “The template is [Richard] Nixon’s “madman theory” of diplomatic…”
Equivalent to sane + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- ‘to satisfy’
Proto-Indo-European *seh₂-no-
Proto-Italic *sānos ‘healthy’
Latin sānus ‘healthy’
English sane
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- ‘to satisfy’
sad, secular, saturation, insatiable, hadron, sade, saturate, satiety, satiate, 20 more
through Latin sānus ‘healthy’
Today it means
noun The condition of being sane.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- / sanity