cellcell

Cell comes from Middle English celle, from Old English cell, from Latin cella ‘small room’, ultimately from PIE *ḱel- ‘to cover’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-¹‘to cover’reconstructed
2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱelneh₂²reconstructed
3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kelnā²reconstructed
4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcella²‘chamber, small room’
5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cell²
6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500celle²
7. Englishearliest quotation 1586cell²

1. ¹ Wiktionary, Latin cella
2. ² Wiktionary, English cell
3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1586, William Warner: “Myself a recluse from the world, And celled under…”.