Etymograph

English

condescend

Condescend comes from Old French condescendre ‘to descend, go down’, from Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱóm1‘beside, near, by, with’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom1‘with, along, at’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom-1‘together’reconstructed
  4. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500condēscendere2
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400condescendre2‘to descend, go down’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500condescenden2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1528condescend2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin con-
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English condescend
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1528, John Strype, Gregory di Casale]: “[H]is Ho[liness] hath, & contynually doth deſire them vvith…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱómWiktionary, Latin con-‘beside, near, by, with’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komWiktionary, Latin con-‘with, along, at’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom-Wiktionary, Latin con-‘together’reconstructed
  4. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500condēscendereWiktionary, English condescend
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400condescendreWiktionary, English condescend‘to descend, go down’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500condescendenWiktionary, English condescend
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1528condescendWiktionary, English condescend. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1528, John Strype, Gregory di Casale]: “[H]is Ho[liness] hath, & contynually doth deſire them vvith…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump up, ascend’

scale, scan, slander, scala, echelon, ascension, skein, ascendant, 14 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’

here, 14 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’

among, gain, comply, hind, likeness, kata, limbed, 31 more

through Proto-Italic *kom ‘with, along, at’

cum, consideration, cue, 14 more

through Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’

competition, consider, conference, counter, concrete, consistent, con, commodity, compulsory, compel, contra, concierge, connotation, condiment, 15 more

Today it means

verb To come down or go down; to descend.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “condescend”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin con-. 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 *ḱóm / condescend

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