Etymograph

English

cost

Cost comes from Old French coster ‘to cost’, from Latin cōnstō ‘stand together’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *komstaēō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komstaēō1‘to stand together’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnstō1‘stand together’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cōstō1
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coster1‘to cost’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500costen1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599cost1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cost
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “though it cost me ten nights' watchings”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komstaēōWiktionary, English cost‘to stand together’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnstōWiktionary, English cost‘stand together’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cōstōWiktionary, English cost
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400costerWiktionary, English cost‘to cost’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500costenWiktionary, English cost
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599costWiktionary, English cost. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “though it cost me ten nights' watchings”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *komstaēō ‘to stand together’

inconstant, 3 more

through Latin cōnstō ‘stand together’

constant, constancy, 4 more

Another origin of cost

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komstaēō‘to stand together’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnstōas cōnstāre‘to stand together’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coster‘to cost’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500costendeverb.
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cost
  6. Englishtodaycost

Another origin of cost

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵews-‘to try, to taste’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵéwstus‘to enjoy, taste’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kustuz‘choice, trial’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350kostr‘choice, opportunity, chance, condition, state, quality’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cost‘option, choice, possibility, manner, way, condition’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cost
  7. Englishtodaycost

Another origin of cost

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcosta‘a side, a wall’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coste‘side’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coste
  4. Englishtodaycost

Today it means

verb To incur a charge of; to require payment of a (specified) price.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cost”. 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-Italic *komstaēō / cost

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