Etymograph

English

ceiling

Ceiling comes from Middle English celing ‘paneling’, from Old French celer ‘to conceal’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-1‘to cover’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēlō2as cēlāre‘hide, conceal’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400celer3‘to conceal’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500celing3‘paneling’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1956ceiling3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin celo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French celer
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English ceiling
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, W. J. Alcock, On the Footplate of the "Elizabethan": “[…] and only at Barnet did Tappin give Empire…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-Wiktionary, Latin celo‘to cover’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēlōWiktionary, Old French celeras cēlāre‘hide, conceal’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400celerWiktionary, English ceiling‘to conceal’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500celingWiktionary, English ceiling‘paneling’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1956ceilingWiktionary, English ceiling. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, W. J. Alcock, On the Footplate of the "Elizabethan": “[…] and only at Barnet did Tappin give Empire…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover’

hell, color, hall, hole, cell, holder, hull, helmet, hollow, halt, helm, holden, uphold, conceal, clandestine, 49 more

through Latin cēlō ‘hide, conceal’

occult, 1 more

Today it means

noun The overhead closure of a room.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ceiling”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin celo, Old French celer. 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 *ḱel- / ceiling

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