Etymograph

English

endure

Endure comes from Old French endurer ‘to suffer’, from Latin indūrō ‘to make hard’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂- ‘long, distant’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂-1‘long, distant’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂rós1‘long’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dūros1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrus1‘hard’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrō1‘harden, endure’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindūrō2‘to make hard’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindūrāre2
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400endurer2‘to suffer’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500enduren2‘to endure’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1611endure2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin induro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English endure
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “He ſhall leane vpon his houſe, but it ſhall…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂-Wiktionary, Latin induro‘long, distant’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dweh₂rósWiktionary, Latin induro‘long’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dūrosWiktionary, Latin induroreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrusWiktionary, Latin induro‘hard’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdūrōWiktionary, Latin induro‘harden, endure’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindūrōWiktionary, English endure‘to make hard’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindūrāreWiktionary, English endure
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400endurerWiktionary, English endure‘to suffer’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500endurenWiktionary, English endure‘to endure’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1611endureWiktionary, English endure. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “He ſhall leane vpon his houſe, but it ſhall…”

Linked words

through Latin dūrus ‘hard’

durability, duress, dour, dur, durum, 12 more

through Latin dūrō ‘harden, endure’

during, duration, durable, durant, 6 more

Today it means

verb To continue or carry on, despite obstacles or hardships; to persist.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “endure”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin induro. 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- / endure

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