Etymograph

English

cunabula

Cunabula comes from Latin cūnābula ‘cradle’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- ‘to lie down’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱey-1‘to lie down’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱoy-no-1‘lair, cradle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*koinā1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūnae2‘cradle’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūnābula3‘cradle’
  6. Englishtodaycunabula3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin cunae
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin cunabula
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English cunabula

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱey-Wiktionary, Latin cunae‘to lie down’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱoy-no-Wiktionary, Latin cunae‘lair, cradle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*koināWiktionary, Latin cunaereconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūnaeWiktionary, Latin cunabula‘cradle’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūnābulaWiktionary, English cunabula‘cradle’
  6. EnglishtodaycunabulaWiktionary, English cunabula

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- ‘to lie down’

home, city, civil, hide, cemetery, civic, coma, citadel, haunt, civitas, ceilidh, hame, 32 more

Today it means

noun The earliest abode; original dwelling place; originals.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cunabula”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin cunae, Latin cunabula. 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 *ḱey- / cunabula

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