Etymograph

English

celebrate

Celebrate comes from Middle English celebrat ‘celebrated’, from Latin celebrātus ‘thronged’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kelisris.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kelisris1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEceleber2‘numerous’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcelebrō3‘frequent’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcelebrātus3‘thronged’perfect passive participle of celebrō
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500celebrat3‘celebrated’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500celebraten3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1907celebrate3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin celeber
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin celebro
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English celebrate
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kelisrisWiktionary, Latin celeberreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEceleberWiktionary, Latin celebro‘numerous’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcelebrōWiktionary, English celebrate‘frequent’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcelebrātusWiktionary, English celebrate‘thronged’perfect passive participle of celebrō
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500celebratWiktionary, English celebrate‘celebrated’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500celebratenWiktionary, English celebrate
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1907celebrateWiktionary, English celebrate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the…”

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Today it means

verb To extol or honour in a solemn manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “celebrate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin celeber, Latin celebro. 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 *kelisris / celebrate