Etymograph

English

amplect

Amplect comes from Latin amplector ‘to surround, encircle or entwine’, and goes back to plecto.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplecto1
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamplector2‘to surround, encircle or entwine’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1657amplect2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin amplector
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English amplect
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1657, Jean de Renou, A Medicinal Dispensatory: “It is a junceous and gramineous Plant, whoſe ſmall,…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplectoWiktionary, Latin amplector
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamplectorWiktionary, English amplect‘to surround, encircle or entwine’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1657amplectWiktionary, English amplect. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1657, Jean de Renou, A Medicinal Dispensatory: “It is a junceous and gramineous Plant, whoſe ſmall,…”

Linked words

through Latin plecto

complex, plexus, plait, 7 more

Today it means

verb To embrace.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amplect”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin amplector. 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 / Latin plecto / amplect

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