Etymograph

English

use

Use comes from Middle English use, from Old French us ‘tradition or custom’, from Latin ūsus, from ūtor, from Proto-Italic *oitōr ‘to use’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oitōr‘to use’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūtor
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEūsus‘use’past participle stem of ūtor
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400us‘tradition or custom’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500use
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1549same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oitōr‘to use’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūtor
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEūsus‘use’past participle stem of ūtor
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400us‘tradition or custom’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500use
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1549same form

Earliest quotation: 1549, Thomas Cranmer et al., London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […]: “From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but…”

Linked words

through Latin ūtor

utilization, usable, utilisation, 7 more

through Latin ūsus ‘use, custom, skill, habit’

usual, usury, 1 more

through Middle English use

useless

Another origin of use

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEuti‘to use’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500usare
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400user‘use, employ, practice’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500usen
  5. Englishtodayuse

Today it means

noun The act of using.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *oitōr / use

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