Etymograph

English

contribute

Contribute comes from Latin contribūtus, participle of contribuō ‘to bring together’, from tribuō ‘to bestow’, from tribus ‘tribe’, ultimately from trēs ‘three’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tréyes1‘three’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trēs1‘three’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrēs1‘three’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribus1‘tribe’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribuō1‘to bestow’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontribuō1‘to bring together; to unite’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontribūtus1‘contributed’perfect passive participle of contribuō
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1849contribute1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English contribute
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849, William Scott, Francis Garden: “That principle carried out consistently and logically, makes the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tréyesWiktionary, English contribute‘three’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trēsWiktionary, English contribute‘three’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrēsWiktionary, English contribute‘three’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribusWiktionary, English contribute‘tribe’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribuōWiktionary, English contribute‘to bestow’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontribuōWiktionary, English contribute‘to bring together; to unite’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontribūtusWiktionary, English contribute‘contributed’perfect passive participle of contribuō
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1849contributeWiktionary, English contribute. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849, William Scott, Francis Garden: “That principle carried out consistently and logically, makes the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tréyes ‘three’

three, tri, tern, troika, 12 more

through Latin trēs ‘three’

trinity, trio, trey, tres, triplex, 10 more

through Latin tribus ‘tribe’

distribution, tribe, tribal, tribunal, tribune, 6 more

through Latin tribuō ‘to bestow’

distribute, retribution, attribution, 3 more

Today it means

verb To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “contribute”. 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 *tréyes / contribute

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