English
subjugate
Subjugate comes from Latin subiugātus ‘subjugated’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *yewg- ‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yewg-‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’next step skipped: Latin subiugō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiugātus‘subjugated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500subiugat(e)
- Englishearliest quotation 1530subjugate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yewg-‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’next step skipped: Latin subiugō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiugātus‘subjugated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500subiugat(e)
- Englishearliest quotation 1530subjugate
Earliest quotation: 1530, The Table of Verbes: “For al their hye mynde they be now ſubiugate:…”
The story
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English subiugat(e), subjugat(e) (‘made submissive; obedient’), the past participle of subiugaten, subjugaten (‘to conquer; to subdue’), from Latin subiugātus, subjugātus (‘subjugated’), the perfect passive participle of subiugō, subjugō (‘to make subject, subjugate’), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘under’) + iugō, jugō (‘to join; to yoke’) (from iugum (‘collar for a horse; yoke for cattle’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yewg- (‘to tie together, join, yoke’)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *yewg- ‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’
join, yoga, conjunction, junction, yogi, adjunct, jodi, yoke, juncture, jugular, yojana, conjugation, zygote, conjugate, yuga, 41 more
Another origin of subjugate
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubiugātus‘subjugated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500subiugate
- Englishtodaysubjugate
The verb is attested slightly later than the adjective.
Today it means
adj Forced into submission; subjugated.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *yewg- / subjugate