Etymograph

English

auditory

Auditory comes from Latin audītōrius ‘pertaining to a hearer or hearing’, from audiō ‘to hear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- ‘to see, perceive’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ew-1‘to see, perceive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewis1‘clearly, manifestly’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*awizdiō1‘to hear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudiō2‘to hear’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudītōrius2‘pertaining to a hearer or hearing’
  6. Englishtodayauditory2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin audio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English auditory

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ew-Wiktionary, Latin audio‘to see, perceive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewisWiktionary, Latin audio‘clearly, manifestly’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*awizdiōWiktionary, Latin audio‘to hear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudiōWiktionary, English auditory‘to hear’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudītōriusWiktionary, English auditory‘pertaining to a hearer or hearing’
  6. EnglishtodayauditoryWiktionary, English auditory

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- ‘to see, perceive’

love, egg, ear, aviation, acoustic, oval, avid, anesthesia, ey, ovation, avian, auspicious, aviator, aural, avarice, ocarina, aviary, otolaryngology, 66 more

through Latin audiō ‘to hear’

audience, obey, audible, 11 more

Today it means

adj Of, or relating to hearing, or to the sense or organs of hearing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “auditory”; 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- / auditory

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