Etymograph

English

auction

Auction comes from Latin auctiō ‘an increase, auction’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-1‘to increase, to enlarge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂owg-éye-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augejō1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augeō1‘to increase’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugeō2as augere‘to increase’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauctiō2‘an increase, auction’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2014auction2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin augeo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English auction
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Competition, hammered: “Auctions come in a wide variety. In a “Dutch…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-Wiktionary, Latin augeo‘to increase, to enlarge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂owg-éye-tiWiktionary, Latin augeoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augejōWiktionary, Latin augeoreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augeōWiktionary, Latin augeo‘to increase’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugeōWiktionary, English auctionas augere‘to increase’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauctiōWiktionary, English auction‘an increase, auction’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2014auctionWiktionary, English auction. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Competition, hammered: “Auctions come in a wide variety. In a “Dutch…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, to enlarge’

august, nickname, authorize, eke, 8 more

through Proto-Italic *augeō ‘to increase’

authority, auxiliary, augmentation, 5 more

through Latin augeō ‘to increase’

author, augment, auteur, 6 more

Today it means

noun A public event where goods or property are sold to the highest bidder.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “auction”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin augeo. 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 *h₂ewg- / auction

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