Etymograph

English

colt

Colt comes from Middle English colt ‘a juvenile equid or camel’, from Proto-Germanic *kultaz ‘plump’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to ball up, amass’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-1‘to ball up, amass’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gelt-1‘something round, pregnant belly, child in the womb’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kultaz1‘plump’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150colt1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500colt1‘a juvenile equid or camel’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598colt1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English colt
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Ay, that's a colt indeed, for he doth nothing…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-Wiktionary, English colt‘to ball up, amass’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gelt-Wiktionary, English colt‘something round, pregnant belly, child in the womb’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kultazWiktionary, English colt‘plump’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150coltWiktionary, English colt
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coltWiktionary, English colt‘a juvenile equid or camel’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598coltWiktionary, English colt. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Ay, that's a colt indeed, for he doth nothing…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to ball up, amass’

clean, childhood, cloud, globe, cold, chill, cluster, gel, jelly, childish, clout, clot, childless, gelatin, clough, gelato, glebe, ganglion, clod, childe, stepchildren, globus, stepchild, klutz, globulin, 42 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gelt- ‘something round, pregnant belly, child in the…’

children, child, 9 more

Today it means

noun A young male horse.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “colt”. 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 *gel- / colt

Shirt and support for this word