Etymograph

English

candle

Candle comes from Latin candēla ‘candle’, from candeō ‘be white, bright, shining’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kend- ‘to shine’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kend-1‘to shine’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kandēō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcandeō1‘be white’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcandēla1‘candle’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150candel1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500candel1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2016candle1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English candle
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2016, Kelvin Holdsworth, The Seven Actual Marks of Mission: “That’s why self-consciously Anglo-catholic churches which are a mile…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kend-Wiktionary, English candle‘to shine’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kandēōWiktionary, English candlereconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcandeōWiktionary, English candle‘be white’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcandēlaWiktionary, English candle‘candle’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150candelWiktionary, English candle
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500candelWiktionary, English candle
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2016candleWiktionary, English candle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2016, Kelvin Holdsworth, The Seven Actual Marks of Mission: “That’s why self-consciously Anglo-catholic churches which are a mile…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with candle, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kend- ‘to shine, appear’

  • candidature ← candidat ← candidātus ← candidus ← candeō

through Proto-Italic *kandēō

through Latin candeō ‘be white, bright, shining’

through Latin candēla

26 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *(s)kend- →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “candle”. 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 *(s)kend- / candle