Etymograph

English

apex

Apex comes from Latin apex ‘point, tip, summit’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- ‘water’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ep-1‘water’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*apeks1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEapex1‘point, tip, summit’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1951apex1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English apex
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1951, J. H. Lehmann, Cardiac Catheterization—A Diagnostic Aid in Congenital Heart: “B.P. 118/68. Grade I diastolic murmur best heard over…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ep-Wiktionary, English apex‘water’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*apeksWiktionary, English apexreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEapexWiktionary, English apex‘point, tip, summit’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1951apexWiktionary, English apex. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1951, J. H. Lehmann, Cardiac Catheterization—A Diagnostic Aid in Congenital Heart: “B.P. 118/68. Grade I diastolic murmur best heard over…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- ‘water’

attitude, apt, aptitude, ape, aven, attitudinal, 22 more

Today it means

noun The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “apex”. 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 *h₂ep- / apex

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