English
assault
Assault comes from Middle English assaut, from Old French assaut, from assalir, from Late Latin assaliō (ad + saliō ‘to jump’).
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaliō1‘to jump’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEassaliō1
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400assalir1
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400assaut1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500assaut1
- Englishearliest quotation 1814assault1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English assault
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion: “Unshaken bears the assault / Of their most dreaded…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaliōWiktionary, English assault‘to jump’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEassaliōWiktionary, English assault
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400assalirWiktionary, English assault
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400assautWiktionary, English assault
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500assautWiktionary, English assault
- Englishearliest quotation 1814assaultWiktionary, English assault. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion: “Unshaken bears the assault / Of their most dreaded…”
A compound of ad ‘at, towards’ + salīre ‘jump’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’
Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
Latin ad ‘at, towards’
Latin salīre ‘jump’
The story
Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with assault, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
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Today it means
noun A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “assault”. 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 / Latin saliō / assault