Etymograph

English

chase

Chase comes from Middle English chacen, from Anglo-Norman chacer, from Vulgar Latin *captiāre, from Latin captō, frequentative of capiō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō1‘to take’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptō2as captāre‘to strive to seize’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*captiāre2reconstructed
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400chacer2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chacen2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1575chase2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin capto
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English chase
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1575, George Gascoigne, London: Christopher Barker: “As touching the Harte and such other light chases…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiōWiktionary, Latin capto‘to take’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptōWiktionary, English chaseas captāre‘to strive to seize’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*captiāreWiktionary, English chasereconstructed
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400chacerWiktionary, English chase
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chacenWiktionary, English chase
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1575chaseWiktionary, English chase. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1575, George Gascoigne, London: Christopher Barker: “As touching the Harte and such other light chases…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with chase, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *kap-

  • had ← hadde ← hæfde ← *habdaz ← *habjaną
  • head ← efd ← hēafod ← *haubud ← *haubudą
  • except ← excepter ← exceptus ← excipiō
  • capital ← capitale ← capitulum ← caput ← *kaput
  • heavy ← hevy ← hefiġ ← *habīg ← *habīgaz
  • captain ← capitain ← capitaine ← capitāneus ← caput
  • capacity ← capacite ← capacite ← capācitās
  • escape ← escapen ← escaper ← *excappāre ← cappa
  • catch ← cacchen ← cachier
  • heavily ← hevely ← hefiġlīċe ← hefiġ ← *habīgaz
  • behavior ← behavoure
  • achieve ← achieven ← achever

310 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from capiō →

Another origin of chase

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti‘to be grasping’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjō‘to take, to seize’uncertain
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapsosuncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsa‘a box, case, holder, repository’uncertain
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chasse‘chest’uncertain
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentchâsse‘case”, “reliquary’uncertain
  8. Englishtodaychase

Another origin of chase

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti‘to be grasping’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjō‘to take, to seize’uncertain
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapsosuncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsa‘box’uncertain
  6. Englishtodaychase

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun The act of one who chases another; a pursuit.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chase”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin capto. 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 / Latin capiō / chase