English
trajectory
Trajectory comes from New Latin trāiectōria, from Latin trāiectus ‘thrown over or across’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)yeh₁-‘to throw, impel’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrāiectus‘thrown over or across’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900trāiectōria
- Englishearliest quotation 2013trajectory
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)yeh₁-‘to throw, impel’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrāiectus‘thrown over or across’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900trāiectōria
- Englishearliest quotation 2013trajectory
Earliest quotation: 2013, Harold J. Morowitz, The Smallest Cell: “It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of…”
The story
Middle French and Middle English had trajectorie (‘end of a funnel’), from Latin trāiectōrium.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw, impel’
year, hour, disease, project, ease, adjacent, jet, object, injection, jess, catheter, gist, conjecture, inject, ejaculation, jetty, enema, ejection, ejaculate, jut, abject, eject, jettison, iambic, joist, subjection, interject, jetsam, 43 more
Today it means
noun The path an object takes as it moves.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- / trajectory