Etymograph

English

ersatz

Ersatz comes from German Ersatz ‘replacement, substitute’, from Proto-West Germanic *sattjan ‘to set, place’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sodéyeti1‘to set, to seat, to cause to sit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*satjaną1‘to set, to place down’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sattjan1‘to set, place’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*uʀsattjan1reconstructed
  6. Old High Germanc. 750–1050irsezzen1
  7. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350ersetzen1
  8. Germanc. 1650–presentersetzen1‘to replace, to substitute’
  9. Germanc. 1650–presentErsatz1‘replacement, substitute’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1923ersatz1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ersatz
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1923, Arthur Michael Samuel, Pinchbeck: “In these days of “rolled” gold, electro-plate, and undetectable…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, English ersatz‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sodéyetiWiktionary, English ersatz‘to set, to seat, to cause to sit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*satjanąWiktionary, English ersatz‘to set, to place down’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sattjanWiktionary, English ersatz‘to set, place’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*uʀsattjanWiktionary, English ersatzreconstructed
  6. Old High Germanc. 750–1050irsezzenWiktionary, English ersatz
  7. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350ersetzenWiktionary, English ersatz
  8. Germanc. 1650–presentersetzenWiktionary, English ersatz‘to replace, to substitute’
  9. Germanc. 1650–presentErsatzWiktionary, English ersatz‘replacement, substitute’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1923ersatzWiktionary, English ersatz. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1923, Arthur Michael Samuel, Pinchbeck: “In these days of “rolled” gold, electro-plate, and undetectable…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

president, size, sell, sit, sitting, method, session, chair, seat, resident, settle, assess, nest, possess, siege, niche, exodus, reside, subsidy, sedan, residue, residual, saddle, sediment, nye, insidious, sedentary, dissident, beset, soot, obsess, anode, cathode, prasad, sedative, chaise, presidio, sedate, sessile, presidium, 93 more

through Proto-West Germanic *sattjan ‘to set, place’

set, setter, 4 more

Today it means

adj An inauthentic or inadequate substitute or imitation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ersatz”. 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 *sed- / ersatz

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