English
disclose
Disclose comes from Vulgar Latin disclaudere, from Latin claudō ‘to close, shut’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-1‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō1‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō2as claudere‘to close, shut’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEdisclaudere2
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400desclore2
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600desclos2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500disclosen2
- Englishearliest quotation 1627disclose2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin claudo
- 2 Wiktionary, English disclose
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “The estrich layeth her eggs under sand, where the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-Wiktionary, Latin claudo‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudōWiktionary, Latin claudo‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudōWiktionary, English discloseas claudere‘to close, shut’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEdisclaudereWiktionary, English disclose
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400descloreWiktionary, English disclose
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600desclosWiktionary, English disclose
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500disclosenWiktionary, English disclose
- Englishearliest quotation 1627discloseWiktionary, English disclose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “The estrich layeth her eggs under sand, where the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’
include, cataract, conclave, subclavian, 28 more
through Proto-Italic *klaudō ‘to close’
through Latin claudō ‘to close, shut’
exclusive, conclusion, inclusion, inclusive, conclude, exclude, clause, closure, closet, preclude, sluice, occlusion, recluse, claustrophobia, cloister, enclose, cloture, 28 more
Today it means
verb To open up; unfasten.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “disclose”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin claudo. 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 *kleh₂w- / disclose