English
agenda
Agenda comes from Latin agenda ‘things that ought to be done’, from agō ‘to do, act, make’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō1‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō1‘to do, act, make’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagenda1‘things that ought to be done’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005agenda1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English agenda
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Linda Wilmshurst, Alan W. Brue: “A homework agenda, sometimes called a student planner, is…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, English agendareconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, English agenda‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agōWiktionary, English agenda‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagōWiktionary, English agenda‘to do, act, make’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagendaWiktionary, English agenda‘things that ought to be done’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005agendaWiktionary, English agenda. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Linda Wilmshurst, Alan W. Brue: “A homework agenda, sometimes called a student planner, is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-
register, suggest, essay, acre, gesture, congestion, digest, agrarian, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, belligerent, ingest, axiomatic, agitate, samaj, gestion, agger, gerund, 127 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’
strategy, agony, reactionary, antagonist, axiom, antagonism, agonist, antagonize, glucagon, stratagem, agonize, 101 more
through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’
reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, unambiguous, hyperactivity, ambiguously, reagent, 79 more
through Latin agō ‘to do, act, make’
act, action, active, activity, actual, actor, examination, examine, agency, agent, activate, ambiguous, squat, ambiguity, assay, enact, agile, agility, agitation, radium, actuator, actuation, cogent, inexact, actuate, redact, exigent, 96 more
Today it means
noun A temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “agenda”. 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 *h₂eǵ- / agenda