English
august
August (stately) comes from French auguste or Latin augustus ‘majestic, venerable’, from augeō ‘to increase’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugeō1‘to augment, increase’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugustus2‘majestic, venerable, august’
- Englishearliest quotation 1796august1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English august
- 2 Wiktionary, French auguste
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Gilbert Bishop of Sarum [i.e., Article VII. Of the Old Testament.: “In the book of Pſalms there are many things…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugeōWiktionary, English august‘to augment, increase’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugustusWiktionary, French auguste‘majestic, venerable, august’
- Englishearliest quotation 1796augustWiktionary, English august. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Gilbert Bishop of Sarum [i.e., Article VII. Of the Old Testament.: “In the book of Pſalms there are many things…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with august, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, to enlarge’
- author ← auctour ← autour ← autor ← auctor
- auction ← auctiō ← augeō ← *augeō ← *augejō
- nickname ← neke name ← ekename ← ek ← ēac
- auxiliary ← auxiliārius ← auxilium ← *aug-s-illi- ← *augeō
- augment ← augmenten ← augmenter ← augmenter ← augmentare
- eke ← ēaca ← *aukô ← *aukaną
- auteur ← autheur ← autor ← auctor ← augeō
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwgos
- inaugural ← inaugurer ← augurō ← augur ← *augos ~ *augezos
- inaugurate ← inaugurer ← inaugurō ← augurō ← augur
- augur ← *augos ~ *augezos
16 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
adj Awe-inspiring, majestic, noble, venerable.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “august”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French auguste. 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 augeō / august