English
accompaniment
Accompaniment comes from French accompagner ‘to accompany, to escort’, from Old French acompagner ‘to associate with’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to graze’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-1‘to graze’by way of Proto-Italic *pāstnisuncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpānis2‘bread, loaf’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcompāniō2‘comrade’literally ‘he with whom one shares one's bread’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400compaignon3as compaing‘companion’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400acompagner3‘to associate with’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaccompagner4‘to accompany, to escort’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaccompagnement5
- Englishearliest quotation 1952accompaniment5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin panis
- 2 Wiktionary, Old French compaignon
- 3 Wiktionary, French accompagner
- 4 Wiktionary, French accompagnement
- 5 Wiktionary, English accompaniment
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, H. C. Casserley, Permanent Wayfarings: “My audience to this not-too-easy operation was a small…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-Wiktionary, Latin panis‘to graze’by way of Proto-Italic *pāstnisuncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpānisWiktionary, Old French compaignon‘bread, loaf’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcompāniōWiktionary, Old French compaignon‘comrade’literally ‘he with whom one shares one's bread’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400compaignonWiktionary, French accompagneras compaing‘companion’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400acompagnerWiktionary, French accompagner‘to associate with’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaccompagnerWiktionary, French accompagnement‘to accompany, to escort’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaccompagnementWiktionary, English accompaniment
- Englishearliest quotation 1952accompanimentWiktionary, English accompaniment. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, H. C. Casserley, Permanent Wayfarings: “My audience to this not-too-easy operation was a small…”
first attested First attested in 1744 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
First attested in 1744.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to graze’
food, father, feed, pattern, pope, foster, fur, apparent, pastor, papa, penetration, patriot, patron, fodder, perpetrator, fad, pasture, paternal, forage, paternity, ayr, padre, perpetrate, patrician, pater, pav, patrimony, panini, pantaloons, compere, 59 more
through Latin pānis ‘bread, loaf’
pain, panic, bannock, pannier, 11 more
through Late Latin compāniō ‘comrade’
through Old French compaignon ‘companion’
Today it means
noun A part, usually performed by instruments, that gives support or adds to the background in music, or adds for ornamentation; also, the harmony of a figured bass.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “accompaniment”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin panis, Old French compaignon, French accompagner, French accompagnement. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- / accompaniment