Etymograph

English

sepulchre

Sepulchre comes from Latin sepulcrum ‘grave, burial place’, from sepeliō ‘to bury, inter’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sep- ‘to care’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sep-‘to care’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sepel-ye-‘to honor’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsepeliō‘to bury, inter’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsepulcrumas sepulchrum‘grave, burial place’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sepulcer
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sepulchre
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sep-‘to care’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sepel-ye-‘to honor’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsepeliō‘to bury, inter’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsepulcrumas sepulchrum‘grave, burial place’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sepulcer
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sepulchre
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “By Mahomet, my Kinſmans ſepulcher, And by the holy…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sep- ‘to care’

savory, savour, insipid, sapling, 14 more

Today it means

noun A burial chamber.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sep- / sepulchre

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