Etymograph

English

elongation

Elongation comes from Latin elongatus ‘prolonged, protracted, having been prolonged’, from longus ‘far off, away’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos ‘long’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰos1‘long’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(d)longos1‘long’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElongus1‘far off, away’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlongō2‘prolong, protract’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEelongatus3‘prolonged, protracted, having been prolonged’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEelongatio4
  7. Englishtodayelongation4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin elongo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin elongatus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin elongatio
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English elongation

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰosWiktionary, Latin elongo‘long’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(d)longosWiktionary, Latin elongo‘long’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElongusWiktionary, Latin elongo‘far off, away’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlongōWiktionary, Latin elongatus‘prolong, protract’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEelongatusWiktionary, Latin elongatio‘prolonged, protracted, having been prolonged’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEelongatioWiktionary, English elongation
  7. EnglishtodayelongationWiktionary, English elongation

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos ‘long’

long, length, linger, 18 more

through Latin longus ‘far off, away’

longitudinal, longitude, lunge, oblong, longus, longe, 10 more

Today it means

noun The act of lengthening.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “elongation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin elongo, Latin elongatus, Latin elongatio. 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 *dlongʰos / elongation

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