Etymograph

English

catenate

Catenate comes from Latin catēnātus ‘chained’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *katesnā.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*katesnā1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcatēna2‘chain’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcatēnāre2next step skipped: Latin catēnō
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcatēnātus2‘chained’
  5. Englishtodaycatenate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin catena, which cites Pokorny, Martirosyan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English catenate

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*katesnāWiktionary, Latin catena, which cites Pokorny, Martirosyanreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcatēnaWiktionary, English catenate‘chain’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcatēnāreWiktionary, English catenatenext step skipped: Latin catēnō
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcatēnātusWiktionary, English catenate‘chained’
  5. EnglishtodaycatenateWiktionary, English catenate

Linked words

through Latin catēna ‘chain’

chain, 9 more

Today it means

verb To connect things together, especially to form a chain.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “catenate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin catena. 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-Italic *katesnā / catenate

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