Etymograph

English

antenna

Antenna comes from Latin antenna ‘yard, sailyard’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *temp- ‘to stretch, extend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temp-1‘to stretch, extend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*antitempnā1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEantenna2as antenna‘yard, sailyard’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2006antenna2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin antenna
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English antenna
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Timothy Duane Schowalter, Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach: “The overall shape of most insect antennae is elongate…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temp-Wiktionary, Latin antenna‘to stretch, extend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*antitempnāWiktionary, Latin antennauncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEantennaWiktionary, English antennaas antenna‘yard, sailyard’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2006antennaWiktionary, English antenna. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Timothy Duane Schowalter, Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach: “The overall shape of most insect antennae is elongate…”

first attested First used in this sense as a Latin word in the 15th century and as an English word by the end of the 17th century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *temp- ‘to stretch, extend’

temperature, temporary, temple, temper, template, tempo, tense, contemplation, 32 more

Today it means

noun An appendage used for sensing on the head of an insect, crab, or other animal.

Sources

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

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