Etymograph

English

desinence

Desinence comes from French désinence ‘ending, desinence, inflectional suffix’, from Latin dēsinens ‘desisting’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-1‘to cultivate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinéti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinō1‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsinō1‘to let’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsinō2‘to stop, end, close, make an end’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsinens3‘desisting’present participle of dēsinō
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsinentia2‘ending, cessation, termination’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentdésinence2‘ending, desinence, inflectional suffix’
  9. Englishtodaydesinence2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin desino
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English desinence
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin desinentia

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-Wiktionary, Latin desino‘to cultivate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinétiWiktionary, Latin desinoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinōWiktionary, Latin desino‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsinōWiktionary, Latin desino‘to let’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsinōWiktionary, English desinence‘to stop, end, close, make an end’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsinensWiktionary, Latin desinentia‘desisting’present participle of dēsinō
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēsinentiaWiktionary, English desinence‘ending, cessation, termination’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentdésinenceWiktionary, English desinence‘ending, desinence, inflectional suffix’
  9. EnglishtodaydesinenceWiktionary, English desinence

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’

suppose, compound, homeless, impose, hamlet, bohemian, homely, hame, 47 more

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti

compost, impost, prepositional, presupposition, 36 more

through Proto-Italic *sinō ‘to put in place’

post, positive, opposite, opposition, composition, propose, expose, opponent, proposition, consolation, dispose, compose, exposition, disposition, deposition, imposition, proponent, supposition, expound, preposition, positivism, suppository, compositor, presuppose, apposite, 40 more

through Latin sinō ‘to let’

position, site, situation, purpose, posture, repository, exponent, posit, compostela, situate, pone, situs, 18 more

Today it means

noun A suffix used as an inflection; an ending; inflectional suffix.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “desinence”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin desino, Latin desinentia. 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 *tḱey- / desinence

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