Etymograph

English

fanatic

Fanatic comes from Latin fānāticus ‘of a temple, divinely inspired, frenzied’, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god’, and ultimately from *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s2‘god’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁s-nó-m2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*faznom2‘temple’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānum3‘temple’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānāticus3‘of a temple, divinely inspired, frenzied’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1817fanatic3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin fanum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English fanatic
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1817, Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh […]: “But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast / To…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁sWiktionary, Latin fanum‘god’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁s-nó-mWiktionary, Latin fanumreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*faznomWiktionary, Latin fanum‘temple’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānumWiktionary, English fanatic‘temple’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānāticusWiktionary, English fanatic‘of a temple, divinely inspired, frenzied’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1817fanaticWiktionary, English fanatic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1817, Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh […]: “But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast / To…”

first attested First attested in 1525 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1525. Influenced by French fanatique.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

do, deal, hot, fact, defense, benefit, mid, fashion, feature, theme, defence, custom, fan, treasury, treasure, sufficient, ethnic, thesis, ethical, doom, defendant, deed, aesthetic, synthetic, auditorium, auditor, demi, deem, spade, ethos, forfeit, ethic, tick, medial, medallion, prefect, familial, duma, certify, thesaurus, 114 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god’

fair, feast, theology, dis, atheist, feral, atheism, theism, apotheosis, theist, fayre, 24 more

through Latin fānum ‘temple’

profanity, profane, fane, 1 more

Today it means

adj Fanatical.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fanatic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s, Latin fanum. 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 *dʰeh₁- / fanatic

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