Etymograph

English

senile

Senile comes from Old French senile ‘relating to old age’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sénos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénos‘old’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneksreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenex‘old man’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenīlis‘of or pertaining to old age’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400senile‘relating to old age’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentsénile
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1979senile

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénos‘old’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneksreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenex‘old man’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenīlis‘of or pertaining to old age’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400senile‘relating to old age’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentsénile
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1979senile

Earliest quotation: 1979, Oscar J. Kaplan, Psychopathology of Aging: “Seniles differ markedly in their early adult intelligence level,…”

The story

1660s; borrowed from French sénile, from Middle French senile, from Old French senile, from Latin senīlis (‘of or pertaining to old age’), from senex (‘old man’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sénos (‘old’).

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *seneks

senatorial, 8 more

through Latin senex ‘old man’

sir, senate, senior, senator, sire, monsignor, signore, signoria, senescent, sene, 9 more

Today it means

adj Of, or relating to old age.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sénos / senile

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