Etymograph

English

dotation

Dotation comes from Late Latin dotatio ‘endowment’, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₃tis ‘giving’, and ultimately from *deh₃- ‘give’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-1‘give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₃tis1‘giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dōtis1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōs2‘gift, endowment, talent’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdoto3as dōtāre‘to endow’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdotatio3‘endowment’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dotacion3‘dotation, endowing’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1605dotation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin dos
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin doto
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English dotation
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, Francis Bacon, The Second Booke: “Neyther is it to bee forgotten, that this dedicating…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-Wiktionary, Latin dos‘give’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₃tisWiktionary, Latin dos‘giving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dōtisWiktionary, Latin dosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōsWiktionary, Latin doto‘gift, endowment, talent’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdotoWiktionary, English dotationas dōtāre‘to endow’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdotatioWiktionary, English dotation‘endowment’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dotacionWiktionary, English dotation‘dotation, endowing’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1605dotationWiktionary, English dotation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, Francis Bacon, The Second Booke: “Neyther is it to bee forgotten, that this dedicating…”

Equivalent to dotate + -ion

Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’

…

Proto-Italic *dōtis

Latin dōs ‘gift, endowment, talent’

Latin dōtō ‘to endow, apportion’

Latin dōtātus ‘endowed’

English dotate

The story

In sense 3, borrowed from French dotation, ultimately from the same origin.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’

add, die, date, data, rent, addition, delicious, surrender, tradition, dose, vent, render, treason, vendor, donor, donate, rendezvous, additive, donation, rendition, addendum, anecdote, condone, antidote, dacha, dative, perdition, sconce, dati, 38 more

through Latin dōs ‘gift, endowment, talent’

dowry, dower, 3 more

through Latin doto ‘to endow’

dow, dowager, endow, 2 more

Today it means

noun The act of dotating or bestowing something; endowment, or an instance of this.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dotation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin dos, Latin doto. 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 *deh₃- / dotation

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