Etymograph

English

en

En comes from Latin en.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEen1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1773en1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English en
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1773, The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal E: “The word length, which contains only four sounds l…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEenWiktionary, English en
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1773enWiktionary, English en. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1773, The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal E: “The word length, which contains only four sounds l…”

The story

The name of the letter comes from Latin en. The typographic sense dates to 1793.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Latin en

Another origin of en

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presenten
  2. Englishtodayen

Another origin of en

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱís‘this (here)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hiz‘this, this one’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hiʀreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēas hine
  5. Englishtodayen

Today it means

noun The name of the Latin script letter N/n.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “en”. 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 / Latin en / en

Shirt and support for this word