Etymograph

English

conjure

Conjure comes from Old French conjurer ‘to beseech, to beg’, from Latin coniūrō ‘to swear together’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-1‘straight, upright, right’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwos1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowos1‘court of law’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE*iowos1reconstructed
  5. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEiovesō1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūro2‘to swear or take an oath’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconiūrō2‘to swear together’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400conjurer2‘to beseech, to beg’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conjuren2‘to conjure’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1667conjure2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin iuro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English conjure
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book II: “Drew after him the third part of Heaven's sons…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-Wiktionary, Latin iuro‘straight, upright, right’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwosWiktionary, Latin iuroreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowosWiktionary, Latin iuro‘court of law’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE*iowosWiktionary, Latin iuroreconstructed
  5. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEiovesōWiktionary, Latin iuro
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūroWiktionary, English conjure‘to swear or take an oath’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconiūrōWiktionary, English conjure‘to swear together’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400conjurerWiktionary, English conjure‘to beseech, to beg’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conjurenWiktionary, English conjure‘to conjure’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1667conjureWiktionary, English conjure. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book II: “Drew after him the third part of Heaven's sons…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’

yet, jurist, injurious, 22 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwos

injustice, prejudge, 21 more

through Proto-Italic *jowos ‘court of law’

justice, judge, judgment, judicial, justify, judiciary, justification, preach, prejudice, predicament, predicate, judicious, adjudicate, judicature, 24 more

through Archaic Latin *iowos

just, 14 more

through Latin iūro ‘to swear or take an oath’

jury, 8 more

Today it means

verb To perform magic tricks.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “conjure”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin iuro. 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 *h₂yew- / conjure

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