English
extravagant
Extravagant comes from Latin extra ‘beyond’, from auferō ‘to take away’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti2‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō2‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō3‘to bear, carry, bring’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauferō4‘to take away’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEablātīvus5as ablativeperfect passive participle of auferō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEextra6‘beyond’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500extravagans6
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600extravagant6
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500extravagaunt6
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602extravagant6
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin fero
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin aufero
- 4 Wiktionary, Latin ablativus
- 5 Wiktionary, Latin extra
- 6 Wiktionary, English extravagant
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “The extravagant and erring spirit hies / To his…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéretiWiktionary, Latin fero‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōWiktionary, Latin fero‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōWiktionary, Latin aufero‘to bear, carry, bring’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauferōWiktionary, Latin ablativus‘to take away’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEablātīvusWiktionary, Latin extraas ablativeperfect passive participle of auferō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEextraWiktionary, English extravagant‘beyond’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500extravagansWiktionary, English extravagant
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600extravagantWiktionary, English extravagant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500extravagauntWiktionary, English extravagant
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602extravagantWiktionary, English extravagant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “The extravagant and erring spirit hies / To his…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, prefer, broad, bread, fortune, burden, bearing, barrel, barn, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, berth, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, ferret, insufferable, furtive, bier, bahar, proffer, birr, barrette, bairn, burnish, 112 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to bear, carry’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, indifferently, phosphine, 90 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, differentiation, indifferent, infertility, deference, infertile, differentially, deferential, differentiable, differentiator, 67 more
through Latin ferō ‘to bear, carry, bring’
different, offer, difference, reference, relative, suffer, relation, transfer, relate, differ, translation, referendum, referee, fertility, fertile, translate, defer, confer, infer, fertilization, elated, elation, collation, fertilize, dilate, collate, oblate, efferent, 78 more
through Latin auferō ‘to take away’
through Latin ablātīvus
frustration, strangely, infra, frustrate, ablative, strangeness, estrange, 2 more
through Latin extra ‘beyond’
Today it means
adj Exceeding the bounds of something; roving; hence, foreign.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “extravagant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti, Latin fero, Latin aufero, Latin ablativus, Latin extra. 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 *bʰer- / extravagant