Etymograph

English

add

Add comes from Middle English adden ‘to join or unite’, from Latin addō, from PIE *deh₃- ‘to give’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-1‘to give’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaddō1‘add’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500adden1‘to join or unite’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611add1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English add
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The Lord shall add to me another son.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-Wiktionary, English add‘to give’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaddōWiktionary, English add‘add’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500addenWiktionary, English add‘to join or unite’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611addWiktionary, English add. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The Lord shall add to me another son.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘to give’

data, date, die, rent, delicious, tradition, dose, surrender, donate, donation, donor, treason, vent, vendor, render, dow, rendition, rendezvous, antidote, anecdote, condone, dowry, dowager, perdition, dative, endow, dower, dacha, dati, sconce, 39 more

through Latin addō ‘add, give unto’

addition, additive, addendum, 3 more

Today it means

verb To join or unite (e.g. one thing to another, or as several particulars) so as to increase the number, augment the quantity, or enlarge the magnitude, or so as to form into one aggregate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “add”. 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 *deh₃- / add

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