Etymograph

English

agree

Agree comes from Middle English agreen, from Old French agreer ‘to receive kindly’, from a gré ‘favorably’, from Latin ad + grātum ‘pleasing’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400agreer1‘to accept or receive kindly’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agreen1‘to please’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1594agree1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English agree
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, Thomas Lodge: “You know that in so great a state as…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400agreerWiktionary, English agree‘to accept or receive kindly’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500agreenWiktionary, English agree‘to please’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1594agreeWiktionary, English agree. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, Thomas Lodge: “You know that in so great a state as…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with agree, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- ‘to welcome, greet, praise’

  • grace ← grātia ← grātus ← *gʷrātos ← *gʷr̥H-tó-s
  • gratitude ← gratitudō ← grātus ← *gʷrātos ← *gʷr̥Htós
  • congratulate ← congrātulātus ← congrātulor ← grātulor ← *grātulus
  • gracious ← gracieus ← gratiosus ← gratia ← grātus
  • grate ← grātus ← *gʷrātos ← *gʷr̥H-tó-s
  • gratuitous ← grātuītus ← grātia ← grātus ← *gʷrātos
  • gratis ← grātiīs ← grātus ← *gʷrātos ← *gʷr̥Htós
  • congratulation ← congratulacion ← congrātulātiō ← congrātulor ← grātulor
  • gracias ← grātia ← grātus ← *gʷrātos ← *gʷr̥H-tó-s

through Latin ad ‘to’

  • ad
  • aim ← amen ← esmer
  • appoint ← apointen ← apointier ← appunctāre

45 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To be in harmony about an opinion, statement, or action; to have a consistent idea between two or more people.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “agree”. 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 / Old French agreer / agree