Etymograph

English

cascade

Cascade comes from French cascade ‘cascade (waterfall)’, from Italian cascare ‘to fall’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱh₂d-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadere1
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*cāsicāre1‘fall’reconstructed
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcascare1‘to fall’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcascata1‘cascade, waterfall’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcascade1‘cascade (waterfall)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1785cascade1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cascade
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1785, William Cowper: “Now murm'ring soft, now roaring in cascade.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱh₂d-Wiktionary, English cascadereconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadereWiktionary, English cascade
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*cāsicāreWiktionary, English cascade‘fall’reconstructed
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcascareWiktionary, English cascade‘to fall’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcascataWiktionary, English cascade‘cascade, waterfall’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcascadeWiktionary, English cascade‘cascade (waterfall)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1785cascadeWiktionary, English cascade. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1785, William Cowper: “Now murm'ring soft, now roaring in cascade.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-

chance, incident, occasion, coincidence, casual, incidence, coincide, cadence, decadent, cadaver, 3 more

Today it means

noun A waterfall or series of small waterfalls.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cascade”. 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 *ḱh₂d- / cascade

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