Etymograph

English

dative

Dative comes from Latin datīvus ‘appropriate for giving’, from datus ‘given’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘to give’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-1‘to give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dédeh₃ti2‘to be giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*didō2‘to give’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdatus3‘given’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdatīvus3‘appropriate for giving’
  6. Englishtodaydative3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin datus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English dative

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti‘to give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dédeh₃tiWiktionary, Latin datus‘to be giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*didōWiktionary, Latin datus‘to give’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdatusWiktionary, English dative‘given’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdatīvusWiktionary, English dative‘appropriate for giving’
  6. EnglishtodaydativeWiktionary, English dative

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘to give’

add, addition, delicious, donor, donate, dow, donation, vendor, rendition, condone, dowry, addendum, dowager, additive, endow, dower, perdition, sconce, 39 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti ‘to be giving’

dose, anecdote, antidote, dacha, venta, 18 more

through Proto-Italic *didō ‘to give’

data, rent, tradition, surrender, treason, render, vent, rendezvous, 16 more

through Latin datus ‘given’

die, date

Today it means

adj Denoting the case of a noun which expresses the remoter or indirect object, generally indicated in English by to or for with the objective.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dative”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti, Latin datus. 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 *deh₃- / dative

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