English
congelation
Congelation comes from Latin congelātiō ‘freezing, congealing’, from gelū ‘cold, chill’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gel-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-1‘to be cold, to freeze’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgelū1‘cold, chill’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgelō1‘to freeze, cause to congeal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcongelō1‘to freeze together, congeal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcongelātiō1‘freezing, congealing’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600congelation1
- Englishtodaycongelation1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English congelation
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-Wiktionary, English congelation‘to be cold, to freeze’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgelūWiktionary, English congelation‘cold, chill’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgelōWiktionary, English congelation‘to freeze, cause to congeal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcongelōWiktionary, English congelation‘to freeze together, congeal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcongelātiōWiktionary, English congelation‘freezing, congealing’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600congelationWiktionary, English congelation
- EnglishtodaycongelationWiktionary, English congelation
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to be cold, to freeze’
children, child, clean, cold, cloud, globe, chill, cluster, colt, clout, clot, clough, glebe, clod, globus, ganglion, klutz, globulin, 47 more
through Latin gelū ‘cold, chill’
through Latin gelō ‘to freeze, cause to congeal’
Today it means
noun The act or process of passing, or causing to pass, from a fluid to a solid state, as by the abstraction of heat; the act or process of freezing.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “congelation”. 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- / congelation