Etymograph

English

cementum

Cementum comes from Latin caementum ‘cement’, from caedō ‘to cut, hew, fell’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-1‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidō1‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedō1‘to cut, hew, fell’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaementum2‘cement’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2005cementum2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin caementum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English cementum
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Herbert F. Wolf, Klaus H. Rateitschak: “From a purely anatomic standpoint, root cementum is part…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-Wiktionary, Latin caementum‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydetiWiktionary, Latin caementumreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidōWiktionary, Latin caementum‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedōWiktionary, Latin caementum‘to cut, hew, fell’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaementumWiktionary, English cementum‘cement’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2005cementumWiktionary, English cementum. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Herbert F. Wolf, Klaus H. Rateitschak: “From a purely anatomic standpoint, root cementum is part…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- ‘to cut, hew’

hit, 26 more

through Proto-Italic *kaidō ‘to cut, hew, fell’

scissors, 24 more

through Latin caedō ‘to cut, hew, fell’

decision, precise, concise, incision, circumcision, chisel, scissor, incisive, excision, incisor, caesium, 25 more

Today it means

noun A bony substance that covers the root of a tooth; cement.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cementum”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin caementum. 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 *kh₂eyd- / cementum

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