English
deny
Deny comes from Middle English denyen, from Old French denoier, from Latin dēnegō ‘to deny’ (dē- + negō ‘to refuse’), ultimately from PIE *né ‘not’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*né1‘no, not’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnegō1‘to refuse’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnegō1‘to deny, refuse’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400denoier1‘to deny, repudiate’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500denyen1‘to deny’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596deny1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English deny
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour’s Lost: “if you deny to dance”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néWiktionary, English deny‘no, not’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnegōWiktionary, English deny‘to refuse’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnegōWiktionary, English deny‘to deny, refuse’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400denoierWiktionary, English deny‘to deny, repudiate’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500denyenWiktionary, English deny‘to deny’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596denyWiktionary, English deny. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour’s Lost: “if you deny to dance”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- ‘to say’
negative, negate, adage, prodigious, negation, renegade, renege, 1 more
Today it means
verb To disallow or reject.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “deny”. 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 *né / deny