English
covenant
Covenant comes from Old French covenant ‘agreement’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *komgʷəniō.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komgʷəniō1‘to be agreed upon’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniō2‘to agree’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniēns2‘agreeing, agreeable, suitable, convenient’present participle of conveniō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400covenant2‘agreement’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500covenaunt2
- Englishearliest quotation 1611covenant2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin convenio
- 2 Wiktionary, English covenant
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “and they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komgʷəniōWiktionary, Latin convenio‘to be agreed upon’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniōWiktionary, English covenant‘to agree’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniēnsWiktionary, English covenant‘agreeing, agreeable, suitable, convenient’present participle of conveniō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400covenantWiktionary, English covenant‘agreement’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500covenauntWiktionary, English covenant
- Englishearliest quotation 1611covenantWiktionary, English covenant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “and they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of…”
Linked words
through Latin conveniō ‘to agree’
convention, inconvenient, convent, convene, 6 more
through Latin conveniēns ‘agreeing, agreeable, suitable, convenient’
Today it means
noun An agreement to do or not do a particular thing.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “covenant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin convenio. 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 *komgʷəniō / covenant