English
during
During comes from Middle English during, present participle of duren ‘to last’, from Old French durer ‘to last’, from Latin dūrō ‘to harden; to last, endure’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂- ‘long’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂-1‘long, distant’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂rós1‘long’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dūros1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrus1‘hard’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrō2as dūrāre‘to harden; to last, endure’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400durer2‘to last’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500duren3‘to last, endure’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500during3
- Englishearliest quotation 1661during3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin duro
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English duren
- 3 Wiktionary, English during
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned: “During the whole time of his abode in the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂-Wiktionary, Latin duro‘long, distant’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂rósWiktionary, Latin duro‘long’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dūrosWiktionary, Latin duroreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrusWiktionary, Latin duro‘hard’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrōWiktionary, Middle English durenas dūrāre‘to harden; to last, endure’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400durerWiktionary, Middle English duren‘to last’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500durenWiktionary, English during‘to last, endure’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500duringWiktionary, English during
- Englishearliest quotation 1661duringWiktionary, English during. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned: “During the whole time of his abode in the…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with during, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Latin dūrus ‘hard’
- durability ← durabilite ← durabilité ← dūrābilitās ← dūrābilis
- duress ← duresse ← duresse ← dūritia
- dour ← dúr
- dur
- durum
through Latin durō ‘to harden, make hard’
through Old French durer ‘to last (for)’
- durant ← durer
20 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
prep For all of a given time interval; throughout; in; pending.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “during”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin duro, Middle English duren. 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 *dweh₂- / during