Etymograph

English

encharge

Encharge comes from Old French enchargier ‘to load’, from Latin carrus ‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sós1‘vehicle, literally runner’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*karros1‘wagon’reconstructed
  4. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*karros1‘wagon’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarrus1‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarricāre1
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*incarricāre2‘to load, burden’reconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400enchargier3‘to load’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1806encharge3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin incarricare
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French enchargier
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English encharge
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1806, Francis Jeffrey, Memoirs of Cumberland: “he had the art of setting them express the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, Latin incarricare‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sósWiktionary, Latin incarricare‘vehicle, literally runner’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*karrosWiktionary, Latin incarricare‘wagon’reconstructed
  4. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*karrosWiktionary, Latin incarricare‘wagon’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarrusWiktionary, Latin incarricare‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarricāreWiktionary, Latin incarricare
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*incarricāreWiktionary, Old French enchargier‘to load, burden’reconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400enchargierWiktionary, English encharge‘to load’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1806enchargeWiktionary, English encharge. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1806, Francis Jeffrey, Memoirs of Cumberland: “he had the art of setting them express the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’

course, current, rush, occur, hurry, curriculum, currency, corridor, courier, precursor, cursor, incur, carousel, concur, hurrah, recursive, corsair, recursion, recur, courant, succour, hussar, 41 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós ‘vehicle, literally runner’

corral, 12 more

through Latin carrus ‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’

car, career, carry, carrier, cargo, carriage, discharge, caricature, chariot, carrack, 10 more

through Latin carricāre

recharge, 4 more

Today it means

verb To give to somebody as a charge; to entrust with a duty or task.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “encharge”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin incarricare, Old French enchargier. 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 *ḱers- / encharge

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