Etymograph

English

arrogant

Arrogant comes from Latin arrogāns ‘arrogating or appropriating something to…’, from rogō ‘to ask, enquire’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-1‘to ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*prokos1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocus1‘wooer, suitor’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocō1‘to ask, urge, demand’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErogō1‘to ask, enquire’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarrogō1‘to claim as one's own, arrogate to oneself, assume’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarrogāns2‘arrogating or appropriating something to oneself, claiming’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400arrogant2
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500arrogaunt2
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1878arrogant2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin arrogans
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English arrogant
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, Friedrich Nietzsche: “The demand to be loved is the greatest of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-Wiktionary, Latin arrogans‘to ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*prokosWiktionary, Latin arrogansreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocusWiktionary, Latin arrogans‘wooer, suitor’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocōWiktionary, Latin arrogans‘to ask, urge, demand’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErogōWiktionary, Latin arrogans‘to ask, enquire’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarrogōWiktionary, Latin arrogans‘to claim as one's own, arrogate to oneself, assume’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarrogānsWiktionary, English arrogant‘arrogating or appropriating something to oneself, claiming’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400arrogantWiktionary, English arrogant
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500arrogauntWiktionary, English arrogant
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1878arrogantWiktionary, English arrogant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, Friedrich Nietzsche: “The demand to be loved is the greatest of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- ‘to ask’

prayer, pray, precarious, postulate, deprecation, 27 more

through Latin rogō ‘to ask, enquire’

rogue, interrogation, derogatory, prerogative, derogation, 15 more

Today it means

adj Having excessive pride in oneself, often with contempt or disrespect for others.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “arrogant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin arrogans. 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 *preḱ- / arrogant

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