Etymograph

English

artisan

Artisan comes from Latin artītus ‘skilled’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-1‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEartītus1‘skilled’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*artītiānus1reconstructed
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600artisan1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1958artisan1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English artisan
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, G. H. Robin, Railways of Paisley, Renfrew and Barrhead—1: “One or two works, particularly those of Babcock &…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-Wiktionary, English artisan‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEartītusWiktionary, English artisan‘skilled’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*artītiānusWiktionary, English artisanreconstructed
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600artisanWiktionary, English artisan
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1958artisanWiktionary, English artisan. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, G. H. Robin, Railways of Paisley, Renfrew and Barrhead—1: “One or two works, particularly those of Babcock &…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’

order, reason, ready, rate, army, art, article, arm, ordinary, ratio, alarm, harmony, coordinate, coordination, armor, subordinate, ornament, ordination, ornate, harmonic, anarchy, arithmetic, articulate, adorn, harmonious, arthritis, ordinate, armament, inert, aristocratic, ordinator, ordinal, articulation, armadillo, rime, harmonize, ordain, ordo, armature, rta, 79 more

Today it means

noun A skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “artisan”. 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 *h₂er- / artisan

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