Etymograph

English

distance

Distance comes from Latin distantia ‘distance, remoteness’, from distāns ‘standing apart’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-1‘to stand (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sth₂éh₁yeti1‘to stand’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*staēō1‘to stand’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstō1‘to stand’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistō1‘to stand apart; to be distant’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistāns1‘standing apart’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistantia2‘distance, remoteness’
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400distance2
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500distance2
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1551distance2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin distantia
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English distance
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, Thomas More, Ralph Robinson]: “[N]other perceaueth the concordaunt and diſcordante diſtaunces of ſoundes,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-Wiktionary, Latin distantia‘to stand (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sth₂éh₁yetiWiktionary, Latin distantia‘to stand’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*staēōWiktionary, Latin distantia‘to stand’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstōWiktionary, Latin distantia‘to stand’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistōWiktionary, Latin distantia‘to stand apart; to be distant’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistānsWiktionary, Latin distantia‘standing apart’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistantiaWiktionary, English distance‘distance, remoteness’
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400distanceWiktionary, English distance
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500distanceWiktionary, English distance
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1551distanceWiktionary, English distance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, Thomas More, Ralph Robinson]: “[N]other perceaueth the concordaunt and diſcordante diſtaunces of ſoundes,…”

The story

Distāns is the present active participle of distō (‘to be distant; to stand apart; to differ’), from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder; in two’) + stō (‘to stand’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (‘to stand (up)’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand (up)’

system, state, post, stay, stand, constitution, stood, contest, consistent, destination, stable, assistant, stadium, stem, assist, testimony, destiny, resist, static, insist, persistent, prostitution, consist, stud, prostitute, stool, substitution, persist, attest, restitution, stamina, stale, stead, testimonial, destitute, astute, stow, solstice, armistice, detest, 141 more

through Proto-Italic *staējō

instability, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *staēō ‘to stand’

arrest, establishment, stability, establish, stationary, instantaneous, restive, instantiation, 16 more

through Latin stō ‘to stand’

rest, stage, station, instant, instance, substance, extant, oust, obstetric, 27 more

Today it means

noun An amount of space between points (often geographical points), usually (but not necessarily) measured along a straight line.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “distance”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin distantia. 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 *steh₂- / distance

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