Etymograph

English

cubit

Cubit comes from Latin cubitum ‘elbow, cubit’, from cubō ‘lie down, recline’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewb-1root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kubāō2‘to lie down’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcubō2‘lie down, recline’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcubitus2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcubitum1‘elbow, cubit’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cubite1‘a cubit’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611cubit1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cubit
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin cubitum
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Which of you by taking thought can add one…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewb-Wiktionary, English cubitroot named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kubāōWiktionary, Latin cubitum‘to lie down’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcubōWiktionary, Latin cubitum‘lie down, recline’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcubitusWiktionary, Latin cubitum
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcubitumWiktionary, English cubit‘elbow, cubit’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cubiteWiktionary, English cubit‘a cubit’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611cubitWiktionary, English cubit. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Which of you by taking thought can add one…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-

hip, cove, incumbent, succumb, hobble, shoop, concubine, 13 more

through Proto-Italic *kubāō ‘to lie down’

incubation, incubus, incubate, 15 more

through Latin cubō ‘lie down, recline’

cube, cubicle, succubus, 14 more

through Latin cubitum ‘elbow, cubit’

covid, 5 more

Today it means

noun The distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger used as an informal unit of length.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cubit”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin cubitum. 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 *ḱewb- / cubit

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