English
audit
Audit comes from Latin audiō ‘to hear’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewis ‘clearly, manifestly’, and ultimately from *h₂ew- ‘to see, perceive’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ew-1‘to see, perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewis1‘clearly, manifestly’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*awizdiō1‘to hear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudiō2‘to hear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudītus2
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609audit2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin audio
- 2 Wiktionary, English audit
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus: “Yet I can make my audit up.”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ew-Wiktionary, Latin audio‘to see, perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewisWiktionary, Latin audio‘clearly, manifestly’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*awizdiōWiktionary, Latin audio‘to hear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudiōWiktionary, English audit‘to hear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudītusWiktionary, English audit
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609auditWiktionary, English audit. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus: “Yet I can make my audit up.”
The story
The sense of examine is because examinations were originally presented orally, and the examiner listened.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- ‘to see, perceive’
love, egg, ear, aviation, acoustic, oval, avid, anesthesia, ey, ovation, 74 more
through Latin audiō ‘to hear’
Today it means
noun A judicial examination.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “audit”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin audio. 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 *h₂ew- / audit