Etymograph

English

donzel

Donzel comes from Old French danzel, from Medieval Latin domicellus ‘young nobleman, squire’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *dom-o/u-nos ‘of the house’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dom-o/u-nos1‘of the house’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominus2‘master, lord’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domicellus2‘young nobleman, squire’diminutive of dominus
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400danzel2
  5. Englishtodaydonzel2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin dominus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English donzel

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dom-o/u-nosWiktionary, Latin dominus‘of the house’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominusWiktionary, English donzel‘master, lord’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domicellusWiktionary, English donzel‘young nobleman, squire’diminutive of dominus
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400danzelWiktionary, English donzel
  5. EnglishtodaydonzelWiktionary, English donzel

Linked words

through Latin dominus ‘master, lord’

do, danger, dan, domain, dame, don, dominate, domination, dungeon, donna, dominion, domino, damsel, dominatrix, dominus, domine, 7 more

Today it means

noun A young squire or the attendant to a knight; a page

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “donzel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin dominus. 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-Italic *dom-o/u-nos / donzel

Shirt and support for this word