Etymograph

English

apay

Apay comes from Old French apaiier ‘to appease’, from Latin ad ‘to, towards’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éd1‘near, at’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ad1‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEad2‘to, towards’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*adpācāre3reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400apaiier4‘to appease’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500apaien4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1603apay4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ad
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin ad-
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French apaiier
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English apay
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “It was a strange conceit, with our owne affliction…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂édWiktionary, Latin ad‘near, at’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*adWiktionary, Latin ad‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadWiktionary, Latin ad-‘to, towards’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*adpācāreWiktionary, Old French apaiierreconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400apaiierWiktionary, English apay‘to appease’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500apaienWiktionary, English apay
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1603apayWiktionary, English apay. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “It was a strange conceit, with our owne affliction…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’

at, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’

appointee, 15 more

through Latin ad ‘to, towards’

agree, ad, aim, await, attire, appoint, amortization, adage, accolade, affix, adulation, alliteration, affine, adroit, adobo, apportion, apres, 19 more

Today it means

verb To satisfy, please.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “apay”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin ad, Latin ad-, Old French apaiier. 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 *h₂éd / apay

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