English
eulogy
Eulogy may come from Ancient Greek εὐλογία ‘praise’, from εὔλογος ‘reasonable, sensible’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect (words)’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-1‘to collect (words)’uncertain
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógos1uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγος2‘word, utterance, narrative’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεὔλογος2‘reasonable, sensible’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεὐλογία3eulogía‘praise’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeulogium3
- Englishearliest quotation 1859eulogy3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λόγος
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek εὐλογία
- 3 Wiktionary, English eulogy
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Wilkie Collins: “It was the prettiest and most luxurious little sitting-room…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λόγος‘to collect (words)’uncertain
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosWiktionary, Ancient Greek λόγοςuncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek εὐλογία‘word, utterance, narrative’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεὔλογοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek εὐλογία‘reasonable, sensible’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεὐλογίαWiktionary, English eulogyeulogía‘praise’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeulogiumWiktionary, English eulogy
- Englishearliest quotation 1859eulogyWiktionary, English eulogy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Wilkie Collins: “It was the prettiest and most luxurious little sitting-room…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect (words)’
election, collection, technology, lesson, select, elite, collect, eligible, elect, elegant, legion, coil, negligence, catalogue, negligible, negligent, leach, diligent, lexicon, lexical, astrology, epilogue, dialectic, cull, legation, alexia, lignite, lexis, lignin, cosmology, gynecologist, ineligibility, dialogic, 149 more
through Proto-Hellenic *lógos
archaeological, pathological, astrological, homologous, etymology, pathophysiology, psychopathology, bacteriological, neurophysiology, histopathology, 101 more
through Ancient Greek λόγος ‘word, utterance, narrative’
logic, apology, sociology, trilogy, terminology, physiology, analogy, pathology, logos, monologue, archaeologist, pathologist, prologue, logistic, epistemology, entomology, etiology, apologia, bacteriology, bacteriologist, syllogism, 110 more
Today it means
noun An oration to honor a deceased person, usually at a funeral.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “eulogy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek λόγος, Ancient Greek εὐλογία. 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 *leǵ- / eulogy