English
supply
Supply comes from Latin suppleo ‘to fill up, make full, complete, supply’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-‘to fill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēō‘to fill’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpleō‘to fill’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuppleo‘to fill up’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400soupleer
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500supplien
- Englishearliest quotation 1666supply
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-‘to fill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēō‘to fill’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpleō‘to fill’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuppleo‘to fill up’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400soupleer
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500supplien
- Englishearliest quotation 1666supply
Earliest quotation: 1666, Edmund Waller: “Burning ships the banished sun supply.”
The story
The Middle English spelling was modified to conform to Latin etymology.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’
public, full, complete, plus, fill, plenty, poll, popularity, folk, plain, comply, ample, plural, amplitude, plethora, amplify, plenary, replenish, puri, plenum, volk, plebs, plebeian, fulsome, 73 more
through Proto-Italic *plēō ‘to fill’
people, popular, publication, publican, 15 more
through Latin pleō ‘Combining form used to form prefixed verbs…’
completion, implement, accomplish, manipulation, complement, depletion, replete, deplete, 11 more
Today it means
verb To provide (something), to make (something) available for use.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- / supply