Etymograph

English

ambitus

Ambitus comes from Latin ambitus ‘circuit, ostentation’, from ambiō ‘to round, go round, pass around, skirt’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- ‘to go’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-1‘to go’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éyti1‘to go, to be going’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ejō1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eō1‘to go’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiō1‘to round, go round, pass around, skirt’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambitus2‘circuit, ostentation’
  8. Englishtodayambitus2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ambitus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ambitus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-Wiktionary, Latin ambitus‘to go’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éytiWiktionary, Latin ambitus‘to go, to be going’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ejōWiktionary, Latin ambitusreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eōWiktionary, Latin ambitus‘to go’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeōWiktionary, Latin ambitus
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambiōWiktionary, Latin ambitus‘to round, go round, pass around, skirt’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambitusWiktionary, English ambitus‘circuit, ostentation’
  8. EnglishtodayambitusWiktionary, English ambitus

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- ‘to go’

eid, itinerary, iter, 26 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti ‘to go, to be going’

ion, cation, isthmus, anionic, 21 more

through Proto-Italic *eō ‘to go’

initiative, initiate, initiation, initiator, 6 more

through Latin eō

issue, initial, transition, exit, trance, transient, eyre, obituary, sedition, transitive, transitory, praetorian, praetor, seditious, obit, 25 more

through Latin ambiō ‘to round, go round, pass around, skirt’

ambient, ambiance, 4 more

Today it means

noun The range of a melody, especially those of ecclesiastical chants.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ambitus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ambitus. 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 *h₁ey- / ambitus

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