Etymograph

English

casual

Casual comes from Middle French casuel ‘fatal’, from Late Latin cāsuālis ‘happening by chance’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱh₂d-1next step skipped: Latin cāssus
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcāsus2‘accident, chance’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcāsuālis1‘happening by chance’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600casuel1‘fatal’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1819casual1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English casual
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin casualis
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, – 1820 September 13, (please specify the title): “casual breaks, in the general system”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱh₂d-Wiktionary, English casualnext step skipped: Latin cāssus
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcāsusWiktionary, Latin casualis‘accident, chance’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcāsuālisWiktionary, English casual‘happening by chance’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600casuelWiktionary, English casual‘fatal’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1819casualWiktionary, English casual. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, – 1820 September 13, (please specify the title): “casual breaks, in the general system”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-

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

through Latin cāsus ‘accident, chance’

case, 2 more

Today it means

adj Happening by chance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “casual”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin casualis. 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- / casual

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