Etymograph

English

conquer

Conquer comes from Old French conquerre ‘to conquer’, from Late Latin conquaerere ‘to knock, strike’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- ‘to acquire’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeh₂-1‘to acquire’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷaizō1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō2as quaerere‘to seek, acquire’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEconquaerere2‘to knock, strike’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400conquerre2‘to conquer’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conqueren2‘to conquer or subjugate (territory)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1594conquer2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin quaero, which cites LIV
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English conquer
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis: “I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeh₂-Wiktionary, Latin quaero, which cites LIV‘to acquire’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷaizōWiktionary, Latin quaero, which cites LIVuncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerōWiktionary, English conqueras quaerere‘to seek, acquire’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEconquaerereWiktionary, English conquer‘to knock, strike’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400conquerreWiktionary, English conquer‘to conquer’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conquerenWiktionary, English conquer‘to conquer or subjugate (territory)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1594conquerWiktionary, English conquer. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis: “I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- ‘to acquire’

question, 12 more

through Proto-Italic *kʷaizō

12 more

through Latin quaerō ‘to seek, acquire’

acquisition, inquiry, exquisite, requisite, enquiry, inquire, query, inquisition, 14 more

Today it means

verb To defeat in combat; to subjugate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “conquer”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin quaero. 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 *kʷeh₂- / conquer

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