Etymograph

English

unison

Unison comes from Medieval Latin ūnisonus ‘having the same sound’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swónh₂osreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonus‘sound’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500ūnisonus‘having the same sound’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600unisson
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unisoun
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1751unison

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swónh₂osreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonus‘sound’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500ūnisonus‘having the same sound’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600unisson
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unisoun
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1751unison

Earliest quotation: 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […]: “I could not behold him without emotion; when he…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’

re, personal, personnel, swan, resonance, resonate, resonant, parson, sonorous, consonance, 11 more

through Proto-Italic *swonos

resound, 4 more

through Latin sonus ‘sound’

sound, son, sonnet, sone, 5 more

Today it means

noun Identical pitch between two notes or sounds; the simultaneous playing of notes of identical pitch (or separated by one or more octaves).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- / unison

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