Etymograph

English

excogitate

Excogitate comes from Latin excōgitāre, from cogitō ‘think’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō1‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō1‘to act, to behave’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagitō1‘to act, behave, do, or make persistently or unremittingly’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcogitō2as cōgitāre‘think’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcōgitāre2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1837excogitate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin cogito
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English excogitate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, William Whewell: “This evidence […] thus excogitated out of the general…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, Latin cogitoreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, Latin cogito‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agōWiktionary, Latin cogito‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagōWiktionary, Latin cogito‘to act, to behave’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagitōWiktionary, Latin cogito‘to act, behave, do, or make persistently or unremittingly’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcogitōWiktionary, English excogitateas cōgitāre‘think’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcōgitāreWiktionary, English excogitate
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1837excogitateWiktionary, English excogitate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, William Whewell: “This evidence […] thus excogitated out of the general…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-

suggest, register, essay, acre, gesture, digest, congestion, agrarian, belligerent, ingestion, ingest, progesterone, gestation, axiomatic, agger, samaj, gerund, gestion, agitate, 126 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’

strategy, agony, reactionary, antagonist, axiom, agonist, antagonism, antagonize, glucagon, agonize, stratagem, 100 more

through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’

reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, unambiguous, reagent, hyperactivity, ambiguously, 78 more

through Latin agō ‘to act, to behave’

act, action, active, agency, actual, agent, activity, actor, agenda, examine, examination, ambiguous, activate, enact, squat, assay, ambiguity, agile, agility, radium, actuator, cogent, actuation, inexact, exigent, redact, actuate, 95 more

through Latin agitō ‘to act, behave, do, or make persistently or…’

agitation, 10 more

Today it means

verb To think over something carefully; to consider fully; cogitate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “excogitate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin cogito. 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 *h₂eǵ- / excogitate

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