Etymograph

English

cartulary

Cartulary comes from Medieval Latin chartulārius ‘archivist, a person who oversees or maintains…’, from Latin chartula ‘a little paper’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- ‘to scratch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰer-1‘to scratch’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχᾰρᾰ́σσω1khărắssō‘to scratch’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχάρτης2khártēs‘sheet of paper’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcharta2‘papyrus, paper’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEchartula3‘a little paper’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500chartulārius4as chartulārium‘archivist, a person who oversees or maintains records’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cartulari4
  8. Englishtodaycartulary4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek χάρτης, which cites Beekes, Chantraine
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin chartula
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin chartularius
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English cartulary

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰer-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek χάρτης, which cites Beekes, Chantraine‘to scratch’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχᾰρᾰ́σσωWiktionary, Ancient Greek χάρτης, which cites Beekes, Chantrainekhărắssō‘to scratch’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχάρτηςWiktionary, Latin chartulakhártēs‘sheet of paper’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEchartaWiktionary, Latin chartula‘papyrus, paper’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEchartulaWiktionary, Latin chartularius‘a little paper’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500chartulāriusWiktionary, English cartularyas chartulārium‘archivist, a person who oversees or maintains records’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cartulariWiktionary, English cartulary
  8. EnglishtodaycartularyWiktionary, English cartulary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- ‘to scratch’

girl, rocket, chronic, chorus, synchronous, urchin, crony, synchronize, cron, germanium, 31 more

through Ancient Greek χάρτης ‘sheet of paper’

cartoon, 10 more

through Latin charta ‘papyrus, paper’

card, chart, cartridge, cartel, carton, carte, cartography, cartouche, 8 more

through Latin chartula ‘a little paper’

charter, 2 more

Today it means

noun A medieval manuscript register containing full or excerpted transcriptions of important documents, especially of originally loose, single-sheet charters.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cartulary”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek χάρτης, Latin chartula, Latin chartularius. 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 *ǵʰer- / cartulary

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