Etymograph

English

coil

Coil comes from Old French coillir ‘to gather, pluck, pick, cull’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-1‘to gather’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*léǵeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*legō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElegō2‘to gather’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolligō2‘to gather together’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coillir2‘to gather, pluck, pick, cull’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coilen2‘to gather, collect, or pick’
  8. Englishearliest quotation a. 1722coil2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin lego
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English coil
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1722, Matthew Prior, Human Life: “What trifling coil do we mortals keep; Wake, eat,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, Latin lego‘to gather’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*léǵetiWiktionary, Latin legoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*legōWiktionary, Latin legoreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElegōWiktionary, English coil‘to gather’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolligōWiktionary, English coil‘to gather together’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coillirWiktionary, English coil‘to gather, pluck, pick, cull’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coilenWiktionary, English coil‘to gather, collect, or pick’
  8. Englishearliest quotation a. 1722coilWiktionary, English coil. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1722, Matthew Prior, Human Life: “What trifling coil do we mortals keep; Wake, eat,…”

The story

From Middle English coilen, from Old French coillir, cuillir (‘to gather, pluck, pick, cull’) (modern French cueillir), from Latin colligō (‘to gather together’), past participle collectus, from com- (‘together’) + legō (‘to gather’); compare legend.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather’

technology, logic, collect, apology, catalogue, sociology, analogy, terminology, physiology, trilogy, pathology, logos, astrology, monologue, leach, prologue, pathologist, archaeologist, logistic, eulogy, lexical, etymology, epilogue, epistemology, lexicon, entomology, homologous, cosmology, dialectic, etiology, gynecologist, alexia, lignite, lexis, lignin, apologia, bacteriology, syllogism, bacteriologist, 150 more

through Proto-Italic *legō

intelligence, selection, intellectual, intelligent, ineligible, elector, legionella, legionnaire, legionary, 16 more

through Latin legō ‘to gather’

election, college, lesson, select, legend, elite, legacy, eligible, lecture, elect, elegant, delegation, legion, colleague, delegate, negligence, negligible, negligent, collegiate, diligent, legible, legation, legate, lectern, lector, collegium, ineligibility, 24 more

through Latin colligō ‘to gather together’

collection, collective, collector, cull, recollect, 2 more

Today it means

noun Something wound in the form of a helix or spiral.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “coil”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin lego. 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 *leǵ- / coil

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