Etymograph

English

fane

Fane comes from Middle English fane ‘temple’, 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, place dedicated to a deity’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fane3‘temple’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1791fane3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin fanum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English fane
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1791, Homer, [The Iliad.] Book II.: “And Pallas rear'd him; her ovvn unctuous fane /…”.

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 fane‘temple, place dedicated to a deity’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500faneWiktionary, English fane‘temple’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1791faneWiktionary, English fane. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1791, Homer, [The Iliad.] Book II.: “And Pallas rear'd him; her ovvn unctuous fane /…”

Linked words

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

do, deal, hot, fact, defense, feature, mid, theme, benefit, fashion, defence, custom, ethnic, sufficient, treasury, treasure, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, fan, synthetic, doom, tick, defendant, deed, ethic, auditorium, auditor, demi, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, forfeit, medial, medallion, prefect, certify, familial, duma, 115 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god’

fair, feast, theology, dis, atheist, atheism, feral, theism, apotheosis, theist, fayre, 25 more

through Latin fānum ‘temple, place dedicated to a deity’

fanatic, profanity, 2 more

Today it means

noun A temple or sacred place.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fane”; 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- / fane

Shirt and support for this word