English
squat
Squat comes from Middle English squatten ‘to squat’, from Old French quatir ‘to press down, flatten’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō‘to act, to behave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōgō‘to collect, assemble, gather together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcoāctus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400quatir‘to press down, flatten’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400esquatir
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500squatten‘to squat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1652squat
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō‘to act, to behave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōgō‘to collect, assemble, gather together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcoāctus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400quatir‘to press down, flatten’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400esquatir
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500squatten‘to squat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1652squat
Earliest quotation: 1652, George Herbert, Treatise of Temperance and Sobriety: “bruises, and squats, and falls, which often kill others”.
The story
The sense “nothing” is synchronically analyzable as a clipping of diddly-squat, although diachronically the direction of derivation is uncertain.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-
suggest, register, essay, acre, gesture, digest, congestion, agrarian, belligerent, progesterone, ingestion, ingest, gestation, agitate, axiomatic, agger, samaj, gerund, gestion, 128 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’
strategy, agony, antagonist, reactionary, axiom, antagonism, agonist, antagonize, glucagon, stratagem, agonize, 102 more
through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’
reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, unambiguous, reagent, hyperactivity, ambiguously, 80 more
through Latin agō ‘to act, to behave’
act, action, active, agency, activity, agent, actor, actual, agenda, examine, examination, ambiguous, activate, enact, agile, ambiguity, agility, assay, agitation, radium, actuator, inexact, exigent, actuation, redact, actuate, 97 more
through Latin cōgō ‘to collect, assemble, gather together’
through Latin coāctus
Another origin of squat
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsquatina‘angel shark’
- Englishtodaysquat
Today it means
adj Relatively short or low, and thick or broad.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / squat